n. [ F. grotte, It. grotta. See Grotto. ] A grotto. [ Poetic ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

/mhw>, n. A groat. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F., fr. It. grottesco, fr. grotta grotto. See Grotto. ] 1. Like the figures found in ancient grottoes; grottolike. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: Wildly or strangely formed; whimsical; extravagant; of irregular forms and proportions; fantastic; ludicrous; antic. “Grotesque design.” Dryden. “Grotesque incidents.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A whimsical figure, or scene, such as is found in old crypts and grottoes. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Artificial grotto-work. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a grotesque manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Quality of being grotesque. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Written also grotesquerie. ] [ From Grotesque. ] Grotesque action, speech, or manners; grotesque doings; ludicrous or incongruous unnaturalness or distortion. “The sustained grotesquery of Feather-top.” K. L. Bates.
Syn. -- grotesqueness. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. + WordNet 1.5 ]

Vileness, on the other hand, becomes grotesquerie, wonderfully converted into a subject of laughter. George Gissing. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n.; pl. Grottoes [ Formerly grotta, fr. It. grotta, LL. grupta, fr. L. crypta a concealed subterranean passage, vault, cavern, Gr. kry`pth, fr. krypto`s concealed, fr. kry`ptein to conceal. Cf. Grot, Crypt. ] A natural covered opening in the earth; a cave; also, an artificial recess, cave, or cavernlike apartment. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Artificial and ornamental rockwork in imitation of a grotto. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]