diff --git a/docs/src/glossary.md b/docs/src/glossary.md
index d71abf1d6..bb731297b 100644
--- a/docs/src/glossary.md
+++ b/docs/src/glossary.md
@@ -769,6 +769,13 @@ can split it into several files, one for each distinct `id`. See the [section
 on tee statements](reference-dsl-output-statements.md#tee-statements) for an
 example.
 
+## terminals
+
+These include `mlr help`, `mlr regtest`, `mlr repl`, and `mlr version`.  They
+aren't verbs but they can be preceded by various command-line flags.  They're in
+contrast to [auxents](#auxents) which are effectively standalone programs
+packaged with Miller.
+
 ## terminator
 
 Used in two senses:
diff --git a/docs/src/manpage.md b/docs/src/manpage.md
index 33325ce9d..65ffe0d8c 100644
--- a/docs/src/manpage.md
+++ b/docs/src/manpage.md
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ MILLER(1)                                                            MILLER(1)
          mlr help file-formats
        Flags:
          mlr help flags
+         mlr help flag
          mlr help list-separator-aliases
          mlr help list-separator-regex-aliases
          mlr help comments-in-data-flags
@@ -173,6 +174,7 @@ MILLER(1)                                                            MILLER(1)
          mlr help keyword
        Other:
          mlr help auxents
+         mlr help terminals
          mlr help mlrrc
          mlr help output-colorization
          mlr help type-arithmetic-info
@@ -801,16 +803,12 @@ MILLER(1)                                                            MILLER(1)
        --rs {string}            Specify RS for input and output.
 
 1mAUXILIARY COMMANDS0m
-       Available subcommands:
-         aux-list
-         hex
-         lecat
-         termcvt
-         unhex
-         help
-         regtest
-         repl
-         version
+       Available entries:
+         mlr aux-list
+         mlr hex
+         mlr lecat
+         mlr termcvt
+         mlr unhex
        For more information, please invoke mlr {subcommand} --help.
 
 1mMLRRC0m
@@ -1203,17 +1201,18 @@ MILLER(1)                                                            MILLER(1)
        Options:
        -i  Use case-insensitive search.
        -v  Invert: pass through records which do not match the regex.
+       -a  Only grep for values, not keys and values.
        -h|--help Show this message.
        Note that "mlr filter" is more powerful, but requires you to know field names.
-       By contrast, "mlr grep" allows you to regex-match the entire record. It does
-       this by formatting each record in memory as DKVP, using command-line-specified
-       ORS/OFS/OPS, and matching the resulting line against the regex specified
-       here. In particular, the regex is not applied to the input stream: if you
-       have CSV with header line "x,y,z" and data line "1,2,3" then the regex will
-       be matched, not against either of these lines, but against the DKVP line
-       "x=1,y=2,z=3".  Furthermore, not all the options to system grep are supported,
-       and this command is intended to be merely a keystroke-saver. To get all the
-       features of system grep, you can do
+       By contrast, "mlr grep" allows you to regex-match the entire record. It does this
+       by formatting each record in memory as DKVP (or NIDX, if -a is supplied), using
+       command-line-specified ORS/OFS/OPS, and matching the resulting line against the
+       regex specified here. In particular, the regex is not applied to the input
+       stream: if you have CSV with header line "x,y,z" and data line "1,2,3" then the
+       regex will be matched, not against either of these lines, but against the DKVP
+       line "x=1,y=2,z=3".  Furthermore, not all the options to system grep are
+       supported, and this command is intended to be merely a keystroke-saver. To get
+       all the features of system grep, you can do
          "mlr --odkvp ... | grep ... | mlr --idkvp ..."
 
    1mgroup-by0m
@@ -3359,5 +3358,5 @@ MILLER(1)                                                            MILLER(1)
 
 
 
-                                  2023-05-13                         MILLER(1)
+                                  2023-06-03                         MILLER(1)
 </pre>
diff --git a/docs/src/manpage.txt b/docs/src/manpage.txt
index 37d960e3d..3d89f78db 100644
--- a/docs/src/manpage.txt
+++ b/docs/src/manpage.txt
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ MILLER(1)                                                            MILLER(1)
          mlr help file-formats
        Flags:
          mlr help flags
+         mlr help flag
          mlr help list-separator-aliases
          mlr help list-separator-regex-aliases
          mlr help comments-in-data-flags
@@ -152,6 +153,7 @@ MILLER(1)                                                            MILLER(1)
          mlr help keyword
        Other:
          mlr help auxents
+         mlr help terminals
          mlr help mlrrc
          mlr help output-colorization
          mlr help type-arithmetic-info
@@ -780,16 +782,12 @@ MILLER(1)                                                            MILLER(1)
        --rs {string}            Specify RS for input and output.
 
 1mAUXILIARY COMMANDS0m
-       Available subcommands:
-         aux-list
-         hex
-         lecat
-         termcvt
-         unhex
-         help
-         regtest
-         repl
-         version
+       Available entries:
+         mlr aux-list
+         mlr hex
+         mlr lecat
+         mlr termcvt
+         mlr unhex
        For more information, please invoke mlr {subcommand} --help.
 
 1mMLRRC0m
@@ -1182,17 +1180,18 @@ MILLER(1)                                                            MILLER(1)
        Options:
        -i  Use case-insensitive search.
        -v  Invert: pass through records which do not match the regex.
+       -a  Only grep for values, not keys and values.
        -h|--help Show this message.
        Note that "mlr filter" is more powerful, but requires you to know field names.
-       By contrast, "mlr grep" allows you to regex-match the entire record. It does
-       this by formatting each record in memory as DKVP, using command-line-specified
-       ORS/OFS/OPS, and matching the resulting line against the regex specified
-       here. In particular, the regex is not applied to the input stream: if you
-       have CSV with header line "x,y,z" and data line "1,2,3" then the regex will
-       be matched, not against either of these lines, but against the DKVP line
-       "x=1,y=2,z=3".  Furthermore, not all the options to system grep are supported,
-       and this command is intended to be merely a keystroke-saver. To get all the
-       features of system grep, you can do
+       By contrast, "mlr grep" allows you to regex-match the entire record. It does this
+       by formatting each record in memory as DKVP (or NIDX, if -a is supplied), using
+       command-line-specified ORS/OFS/OPS, and matching the resulting line against the
+       regex specified here. In particular, the regex is not applied to the input
+       stream: if you have CSV with header line "x,y,z" and data line "1,2,3" then the
+       regex will be matched, not against either of these lines, but against the DKVP
+       line "x=1,y=2,z=3".  Furthermore, not all the options to system grep are
+       supported, and this command is intended to be merely a keystroke-saver. To get
+       all the features of system grep, you can do
          "mlr --odkvp ... | grep ... | mlr --idkvp ..."
 
    1mgroup-by0m
@@ -3338,4 +3337,4 @@ MILLER(1)                                                            MILLER(1)
 
 
 
-                                  2023-05-13                         MILLER(1)
+                                  2023-06-03                         MILLER(1)
diff --git a/docs/src/online-help.md b/docs/src/online-help.md
index bdf05fb66..fc6cda292 100644
--- a/docs/src/online-help.md
+++ b/docs/src/online-help.md
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ Essentials:
   mlr help file-formats
 Flags:
   mlr help flags
+  mlr help flag
   mlr help list-separator-aliases
   mlr help list-separator-regex-aliases
   mlr help comments-in-data-flags
@@ -81,6 +82,7 @@ Keywords:
   mlr help keyword
 Other:
   mlr help auxents
+  mlr help terminals
   mlr help mlrrc
   mlr help output-colorization
   mlr help type-arithmetic-info
diff --git a/docs/src/reference-main-auxiliary-commands.md b/docs/src/reference-main-auxiliary-commands.md
index a55ce0361..16fa67c09 100644
--- a/docs/src/reference-main-auxiliary-commands.md
+++ b/docs/src/reference-main-auxiliary-commands.md
@@ -22,16 +22,12 @@ There are a few nearly-standalone programs which have a little to do with the re
 <b>mlr aux-list</b>
 </pre>
 <pre class="pre-non-highlight-in-pair">
-Available subcommands:
-  aux-list
-  hex
-  lecat
-  termcvt
-  unhex
-  help
-  regtest
-  repl
-  version
+Available entries:
+  mlr aux-list
+  mlr hex
+  mlr lecat
+  mlr termcvt
+  mlr unhex
 For more information, please invoke mlr {subcommand} --help.
 </pre>
 
diff --git a/docs/src/reference-verbs.md b/docs/src/reference-verbs.md
index b0f1d43f5..0558f99d5 100644
--- a/docs/src/reference-verbs.md
+++ b/docs/src/reference-verbs.md
@@ -1325,17 +1325,18 @@ Passes through records which match the regular expression.
 Options:
 -i  Use case-insensitive search.
 -v  Invert: pass through records which do not match the regex.
+-a  Only grep for values, not keys and values.
 -h|--help Show this message.
 Note that "mlr filter" is more powerful, but requires you to know field names.
-By contrast, "mlr grep" allows you to regex-match the entire record. It does
-this by formatting each record in memory as DKVP, using command-line-specified
-ORS/OFS/OPS, and matching the resulting line against the regex specified
-here. In particular, the regex is not applied to the input stream: if you
-have CSV with header line "x,y,z" and data line "1,2,3" then the regex will
-be matched, not against either of these lines, but against the DKVP line
-"x=1,y=2,z=3".  Furthermore, not all the options to system grep are supported,
-and this command is intended to be merely a keystroke-saver. To get all the
-features of system grep, you can do
+By contrast, "mlr grep" allows you to regex-match the entire record. It does this
+by formatting each record in memory as DKVP (or NIDX, if -a is supplied), using
+command-line-specified ORS/OFS/OPS, and matching the resulting line against the
+regex specified here. In particular, the regex is not applied to the input
+stream: if you have CSV with header line "x,y,z" and data line "1,2,3" then the
+regex will be matched, not against either of these lines, but against the DKVP
+line "x=1,y=2,z=3".  Furthermore, not all the options to system grep are
+supported, and this command is intended to be merely a keystroke-saver. To get
+all the features of system grep, you can do
   "mlr --odkvp ... | grep ... | mlr --idkvp ..."
 </pre>
 
diff --git a/internal/pkg/mlrval/mlrmap_print.go b/internal/pkg/mlrval/mlrmap_print.go
index 9cfd8122a..5ab7c2d5a 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/mlrval/mlrmap_print.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/mlrval/mlrmap_print.go
@@ -28,6 +28,17 @@ func (mlrmap *Mlrmap) ToDKVPString() string {
 	return buffer.String()
 }
 
+func (mlrmap *Mlrmap) ToNIDXString() string {
+	var buffer bytes.Buffer // stdio is non-buffered in Go, so buffer for ~5x speed increase
+	for pe := mlrmap.Head; pe != nil; pe = pe.Next {
+		buffer.WriteString(pe.Value.String())
+		if pe.Next != nil {
+			buffer.WriteString(",")
+		}
+	}
+	return buffer.String()
+}
+
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------
 // Must have non-pointer receiver in order to implement the fmt.Stringer
 // interface to make mlrmap printable via fmt.Println et al.
diff --git a/internal/pkg/transformers/grep.go b/internal/pkg/transformers/grep.go
index c009e7219..6e692364a 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/transformers/grep.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/transformers/grep.go
@@ -30,18 +30,19 @@ func transformerGrepUsage(
 	fmt.Fprint(o, "Options:\n")
 	fmt.Fprint(o, "-i  Use case-insensitive search.\n")
 	fmt.Fprint(o, "-v  Invert: pass through records which do not match the regex.\n")
+	fmt.Fprint(o, "-a  Only grep for values, not keys and values.\n")
 	fmt.Fprintf(o, "-h|--help Show this message.\n")
 
 	fmt.Fprintf(o, `Note that "%s filter" is more powerful, but requires you to know field names.
-By contrast, "%s grep" allows you to regex-match the entire record. It does
-this by formatting each record in memory as DKVP, using command-line-specified
-ORS/OFS/OPS, and matching the resulting line against the regex specified
-here. In particular, the regex is not applied to the input stream: if you
-have CSV with header line "x,y,z" and data line "1,2,3" then the regex will
-be matched, not against either of these lines, but against the DKVP line
-"x=1,y=2,z=3".  Furthermore, not all the options to system grep are supported,
-and this command is intended to be merely a keystroke-saver. To get all the
-features of system grep, you can do
+By contrast, "%s grep" allows you to regex-match the entire record. It does this
+by formatting each record in memory as DKVP (or NIDX, if -a is supplied), using
+command-line-specified ORS/OFS/OPS, and matching the resulting line against the
+regex specified here. In particular, the regex is not applied to the input
+stream: if you have CSV with header line "x,y,z" and data line "1,2,3" then the
+regex will be matched, not against either of these lines, but against the DKVP
+line "x=1,y=2,z=3".  Furthermore, not all the options to system grep are
+supported, and this command is intended to be merely a keystroke-saver. To get
+all the features of system grep, you can do
   "%s --odkvp ... | grep ... | %s --idkvp ..."
 `, "mlr", "mlr", "mlr", "mlr")
 }
@@ -61,6 +62,7 @@ func transformerGrepParseCLI(
 
 	ignoreCase := false
 	invert := false
+	valuesOnly := false
 
 	for argi < argc /* variable increment: 1 or 2 depending on flag */ {
 		opt := args[argi]
@@ -82,6 +84,9 @@ func transformerGrepParseCLI(
 		} else if opt == "-v" {
 			invert = true
 
+		} else if opt == "-a" {
+			valuesOnly = true
+
 		} else {
 			transformerGrepUsage(os.Stderr)
 			os.Exit(1)
@@ -116,6 +121,7 @@ func transformerGrepParseCLI(
 	transformer, err := NewTransformerGrep(
 		regexp,
 		invert,
+		valuesOnly,
 	)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
@@ -127,17 +133,20 @@ func transformerGrepParseCLI(
 
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------
 type TransformerGrep struct {
-	regexp *regexp.Regexp
-	invert bool
+	regexp     *regexp.Regexp
+	invert     bool
+	valuesOnly bool
 }
 
 func NewTransformerGrep(
 	regexp *regexp.Regexp,
 	invert bool,
+	valuesOnly bool,
 ) (*TransformerGrep, error) {
 	tr := &TransformerGrep{
-		regexp: regexp,
-		invert: invert,
+		regexp:     regexp,
+		invert:     invert,
+		valuesOnly: valuesOnly,
 	}
 	return tr, nil
 }
@@ -153,7 +162,12 @@ func (tr *TransformerGrep) Transform(
 	HandleDefaultDownstreamDone(inputDownstreamDoneChannel, outputDownstreamDoneChannel)
 	if !inrecAndContext.EndOfStream {
 		inrec := inrecAndContext.Record
-		inrecAsString := inrec.ToDKVPString()
+		var inrecAsString string
+		if tr.valuesOnly {
+			inrecAsString = inrec.ToNIDXString()
+		} else {
+			inrecAsString = inrec.ToDKVPString()
+		}
 		matches := tr.regexp.Match([]byte(inrecAsString))
 		if tr.invert {
 			if !matches {
diff --git a/man/manpage.txt b/man/manpage.txt
index 37d960e3d..3d89f78db 100644
--- a/man/manpage.txt
+++ b/man/manpage.txt
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ MILLER(1)                                                            MILLER(1)
          mlr help file-formats
        Flags:
          mlr help flags
+         mlr help flag
          mlr help list-separator-aliases
          mlr help list-separator-regex-aliases
          mlr help comments-in-data-flags
@@ -152,6 +153,7 @@ MILLER(1)                                                            MILLER(1)
          mlr help keyword
        Other:
          mlr help auxents
+         mlr help terminals
          mlr help mlrrc
          mlr help output-colorization
          mlr help type-arithmetic-info
@@ -780,16 +782,12 @@ MILLER(1)                                                            MILLER(1)
        --rs {string}            Specify RS for input and output.
 
 1mAUXILIARY COMMANDS0m
-       Available subcommands:
-         aux-list
-         hex
-         lecat
-         termcvt
-         unhex
-         help
-         regtest
-         repl
-         version
+       Available entries:
+         mlr aux-list
+         mlr hex
+         mlr lecat
+         mlr termcvt
+         mlr unhex
        For more information, please invoke mlr {subcommand} --help.
 
 1mMLRRC0m
@@ -1182,17 +1180,18 @@ MILLER(1)                                                            MILLER(1)
        Options:
        -i  Use case-insensitive search.
        -v  Invert: pass through records which do not match the regex.
+       -a  Only grep for values, not keys and values.
        -h|--help Show this message.
        Note that "mlr filter" is more powerful, but requires you to know field names.
-       By contrast, "mlr grep" allows you to regex-match the entire record. It does
-       this by formatting each record in memory as DKVP, using command-line-specified
-       ORS/OFS/OPS, and matching the resulting line against the regex specified
-       here. In particular, the regex is not applied to the input stream: if you
-       have CSV with header line "x,y,z" and data line "1,2,3" then the regex will
-       be matched, not against either of these lines, but against the DKVP line
-       "x=1,y=2,z=3".  Furthermore, not all the options to system grep are supported,
-       and this command is intended to be merely a keystroke-saver. To get all the
-       features of system grep, you can do
+       By contrast, "mlr grep" allows you to regex-match the entire record. It does this
+       by formatting each record in memory as DKVP (or NIDX, if -a is supplied), using
+       command-line-specified ORS/OFS/OPS, and matching the resulting line against the
+       regex specified here. In particular, the regex is not applied to the input
+       stream: if you have CSV with header line "x,y,z" and data line "1,2,3" then the
+       regex will be matched, not against either of these lines, but against the DKVP
+       line "x=1,y=2,z=3".  Furthermore, not all the options to system grep are
+       supported, and this command is intended to be merely a keystroke-saver. To get
+       all the features of system grep, you can do
          "mlr --odkvp ... | grep ... | mlr --idkvp ..."
 
    1mgroup-by0m
@@ -3338,4 +3337,4 @@ MILLER(1)                                                            MILLER(1)
 
 
 
-                                  2023-05-13                         MILLER(1)
+                                  2023-06-03                         MILLER(1)
diff --git a/man/mlr.1 b/man/mlr.1
index 00a67f9ec..08ad3e578 100644
--- a/man/mlr.1
+++ b/man/mlr.1
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 .\"     Title: mlr
 .\"    Author: [see the "AUTHOR" section]
 .\" Generator: ./mkman.rb
-.\"      Date: 2023-05-13
+.\"      Date: 2023-06-03
 .\"    Manual: \ \&
 .\"    Source: \ \&
 .\"  Language: English
 .\"
-.TH "MILLER" "1" "2023-05-13" "\ \&" "\ \&"
+.TH "MILLER" "1" "2023-06-03" "\ \&" "\ \&"
 .\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
 .\" * Portability definitions
 .\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ Essentials:
   mlr help file-formats
 Flags:
   mlr help flags
+  mlr help flag
   mlr help list-separator-aliases
   mlr help list-separator-regex-aliases
   mlr help comments-in-data-flags
@@ -187,6 +188,7 @@ Keywords:
   mlr help keyword
 Other:
   mlr help auxents
+  mlr help terminals
   mlr help mlrrc
   mlr help output-colorization
   mlr help type-arithmetic-info
@@ -937,16 +939,12 @@ Notes about all other separators:
 .RS 0
 .\}
 .nf
-Available subcommands:
-  aux-list
-  hex
-  lecat
-  termcvt
-  unhex
-  help
-  regtest
-  repl
-  version
+Available entries:
+  mlr aux-list
+  mlr hex
+  mlr lecat
+  mlr termcvt
+  mlr unhex
 For more information, please invoke mlr {subcommand} --help.
 .fi
 .if n \{\
@@ -1473,17 +1471,18 @@ Passes through records which match the regular expression.
 Options:
 -i  Use case-insensitive search.
 -v  Invert: pass through records which do not match the regex.
+-a  Only grep for values, not keys and values.
 -h|--help Show this message.
 Note that "mlr filter" is more powerful, but requires you to know field names.
-By contrast, "mlr grep" allows you to regex-match the entire record. It does
-this by formatting each record in memory as DKVP, using command-line-specified
-ORS/OFS/OPS, and matching the resulting line against the regex specified
-here. In particular, the regex is not applied to the input stream: if you
-have CSV with header line "x,y,z" and data line "1,2,3" then the regex will
-be matched, not against either of these lines, but against the DKVP line
-"x=1,y=2,z=3".  Furthermore, not all the options to system grep are supported,
-and this command is intended to be merely a keystroke-saver. To get all the
-features of system grep, you can do
+By contrast, "mlr grep" allows you to regex-match the entire record. It does this
+by formatting each record in memory as DKVP (or NIDX, if -a is supplied), using
+command-line-specified ORS/OFS/OPS, and matching the resulting line against the
+regex specified here. In particular, the regex is not applied to the input
+stream: if you have CSV with header line "x,y,z" and data line "1,2,3" then the
+regex will be matched, not against either of these lines, but against the DKVP
+line "x=1,y=2,z=3".  Furthermore, not all the options to system grep are
+supported, and this command is intended to be merely a keystroke-saver. To get
+all the features of system grep, you can do
   "mlr --odkvp ... | grep ... | mlr --idkvp ..."
 .fi
 .if n \{\
diff --git a/test/cases/cli-help/0001/expout b/test/cases/cli-help/0001/expout
index 374275e77..fe29d65db 100644
--- a/test/cases/cli-help/0001/expout
+++ b/test/cases/cli-help/0001/expout
@@ -343,17 +343,18 @@ Passes through records which match the regular expression.
 Options:
 -i  Use case-insensitive search.
 -v  Invert: pass through records which do not match the regex.
+-a  Only grep for values, not keys and values.
 -h|--help Show this message.
 Note that "mlr filter" is more powerful, but requires you to know field names.
-By contrast, "mlr grep" allows you to regex-match the entire record. It does
-this by formatting each record in memory as DKVP, using command-line-specified
-ORS/OFS/OPS, and matching the resulting line against the regex specified
-here. In particular, the regex is not applied to the input stream: if you
-have CSV with header line "x,y,z" and data line "1,2,3" then the regex will
-be matched, not against either of these lines, but against the DKVP line
-"x=1,y=2,z=3".  Furthermore, not all the options to system grep are supported,
-and this command is intended to be merely a keystroke-saver. To get all the
-features of system grep, you can do
+By contrast, "mlr grep" allows you to regex-match the entire record. It does this
+by formatting each record in memory as DKVP (or NIDX, if -a is supplied), using
+command-line-specified ORS/OFS/OPS, and matching the resulting line against the
+regex specified here. In particular, the regex is not applied to the input
+stream: if you have CSV with header line "x,y,z" and data line "1,2,3" then the
+regex will be matched, not against either of these lines, but against the DKVP
+line "x=1,y=2,z=3".  Furthermore, not all the options to system grep are
+supported, and this command is intended to be merely a keystroke-saver. To get
+all the features of system grep, you can do
   "mlr --odkvp ... | grep ... | mlr --idkvp ..."
 
 ================================================================
diff --git a/test/cases/verb-grep/0006/cmd b/test/cases/verb-grep/0006/cmd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a6abade76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/cases/verb-grep/0006/cmd
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+mlr --opprint --from test/input/s.dkvp grep -a y
diff --git a/test/cases/verb-grep/0006/experr b/test/cases/verb-grep/0006/experr
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/test/cases/verb-grep/0006/expout b/test/cases/verb-grep/0006/expout
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d1c34e562
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/cases/verb-grep/0006/expout
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+a   b   i x          y
+wye wye 3 0.20460331 0.33831853
+eks wye 4 0.38139939 0.13418874