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gnarl

1
[nahrl]
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noun
  1. a knotty protuberance on a tree; knot.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to twist into a knotted or distorted form.
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Origin of gnarl

1
First recorded in 1805–15; back formation from gnarled

Synonyms for gnarl

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2. contort, distort.

gnarl

2
[nahrl]
verb (used without object)
  1. to growl; snarl.
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Origin of gnarl

2
First recorded in 1585–95; variant of gnar
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for gnarl

screw, tangle, moan, grunt, howl, rumble, growl, cry, snarl, yap, bark, mutter, roar, writhe, deform, skew, cripple, impair, contort, maim

Examples from the Web for gnarl

Historical Examples of gnarl

  • In a little while he returned, carrying a gnarl of pine wood, which he set to blazing at the fire.

    The Red Tavern

    Charles Raymond Macauley

  • The ball is a knob or gnarl from the trunk of a tree, carefully formed into a globular shape.

British Dictionary definitions for gnarl

gnarl

1
noun
  1. any knotty protuberance or swelling on a tree
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verb
  1. (tr) to knot or cause to knot
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Word Origin for gnarl

C19: back formation from gnarled, probably variant of knurled; see knurl

gnarl

2

gnar (nɑː)

verb
  1. (intr) obsolete to growl or snarl
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Word Origin for gnarl

C16: of imitative origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gnarl

v.

"contort, twist," 1814, a back-formation from gnarled. As a noun from 1824. Earlier the verb was used in a sense of "to snarl" (1590s).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper