genuflect

To bend the knee, as in servitude.archaicintransitive

To briefly enter a position that touches one knee to the ground in a manner that is typically associated with formal homage or religious worship.intransitive

• At high Mass the deacon and subdeacon stand on either side, genuflect too, and answer.
• First you get down on your knees, fiddle with your rosaries, / Bow your head with great respect, and / genuflect, genuflect, genuflect.

To behave in a servile manner; to grovel.figurativelyintransitive

• Certainly, the megalomaniacs who aim to populate municipal fixtures with registered-trademark logos will expect cities to genuflect at every turn.