grunt

[gruhnt]

verb (used without object)

1. to utter the deep, guttural sound characteristic of a hog.

2. to utter a similar sound.

3. to grumble, as in discontent.

verb (used with object)

1. to express with a grunt.

noun

1. a sound of grunting.

2. New England Cooking.,  a dessert, typically of cherries, peaches, or apples sweetened and spiced, and topped with biscuit dough.

3. any food fish of the family Pomadasyidae (Haemulidae), found chiefly in tropical and subtropical seas, that emits grunting sounds.

4. Slang.,  a soldier, especially an infantryman.

5. Slang.,  a common or unskilled worker; laborer.

grunt

/ ɡrʌnt /

verb

1. (intr) (esp of pigs and some other animals) to emit a low short gruff noise

2. (when tr, may take a clause as object) to express something gruffly

   he grunted his answer

noun

1. the characteristic low short gruff noise of pigs, etc, or a similar sound, as of disgust

2. any of various mainly tropical marine sciaenid fishes, such as Haemulon macrostomum ( Spanish grunt ), that utter a grunting sound when caught

3. slang,  an infantry soldier or US Marine, esp in the Vietnam War

Other Word Forms

• gruntingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of grunt¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English grunten, Old English grunnettan, frequentative of grunian “to grunt”; cognate with German grunzen, Latin grunnīre

Word History and Origins

Origin of grunt¹

Old English grunnettan, probably of imitative origin; compare Old High German grunnizōn, grunni moaning, Latin grunnīre

Example Sentences

England have the forward grunt to make similar inroads.

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I watched an army of trucks and hard hats, grinding and grunting on the blank canvas of a town in ruins.

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In the minutes before the Lions ran out to play the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, Maro Itoje gathered his players together in the dressing room and appealed to their inner grunt.

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This is the roof of the world where traffic gives way to yak herders on horseback whistling to reluctant, grunting cattle, as eagles circle above.

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Rugby is forever in danger of eating itself with its inexorable march towards grunt and aggression, but these two remind you of why you might have fallen in love with rugby in the first place.

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Related Words

• groan