kowtow

1. (historical) To kneel and bow low enough to touch one’s forehead to the ground.Examples: "When the weather turned cold, the tears that he shed would become frozen like veins; the blood on his forehead from kowtowing would also freeze and would not drip."historicalintransitive

2. (figuratively) To grovel, act in a very submissive manner; to show obeisance to (someone or something) in such a manner; to bow.Examples: "I suppose you're going to be nice to Odie and kowtow to Jon and lick the mailman's boots! I don't like you already."; "The letter to Razin contained another thought that preoccupied Stalin in the first months after the war: the need to avoid “kowtowing to the West,” including showing “unwarranted respect” for the “military authorities of Germany.”"figurativelyintransitive