kowtow

noun

to show obsequious deference : fawn
to kneel and touch the forehead to the ground in token of homage, worship, or deep respect

Pronunciation: /ˈkaʊˌtaʊ/

Etymology: From either Cantonese 叩頭 /叩头 (kau³ tau⁴) or Mandarin 叩頭 /叩头 (kòutóu). Literally, “knock head”.

The act of kowtowing.
“Three elders dressed in their long silk ceremonial gowns perform the kowtow before the altar in their clan ancestral hall.”

Etymology: From either Cantonese 叩頭 /叩头 (kau³ tau⁴) or Mandarin 叩頭 /叩头 (kòutóu). Literally, “knock head”.

To kneel and bow low enough to touch one’s forehead to the ground.
“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.”
To grovel, act in a very submissive manner; to show obeisance to (someone or something) in such a manner; to bow.
“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.””
To bow very deeply.