grouse
1 Americannoun
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grouse,
plural
-
grouses
plural
-
any of numerous gallinaceous birds of the subfamily Tetraoninae.
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British. the red grouse.
verb (used without object)
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grouses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
groused,
past participle, past
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grousing
present participle
noun
adjective
verb
noun
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
grousesimple
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grousessimple
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have grousedperfect
-
has grousedperfect
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am grousingprogressive
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are grousingprogressive
-
is grousingprogressive
-
have been grousingperfect progressive
-
has been grousingperfect progressive
Past
-
grousedsimple
-
had grousedperfect
-
was grousingprogressive
-
were grousingprogressive
-
had been grousingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of grouse1
First recorded in 1525–35; origin uncertain
Origin of grouse2
First recorded in 1885–1900; originally British army slang; further origin uncertain; see also grouch
Origin of grouse3
First recorded in 1920–25; origin uncertain
Explanation
A grouse is a plump little bird. Don’t like birds? You can grouse, or complain, about them. The word grouse means both, but a grouse wouldn’t grouse because birds don’t whine. The word grouse has been around since the 1500s, referring to a ground-dwelling game bird with feathery feet and legs. It’s a bird, so people hunt it, which is maybe how grouse came to mean “to complain” a few hundred years later. You might grouse about the amount of homework your social studies teacher assigns or about the terrible weather or about the high price of gas. People will grouse about pretty much anything!
Vocabulary lists containing grouse
A Vocabulary Bestiary: Animals That Behave as Verbs
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Curmudgeon, Cantankerous and Churlish: Grouchy Words
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Maniac Magee
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Something new might appear in your change when you pay in cash from now on: a 10p coin featuring the portrait of King Charles and the world's largest grouse.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
In another spot of good news, firefighters Thursday rescued from the heart of the fire zone a black grouse -- an endangered species, with only 14 males and four or five females remaining in Belgium.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
However the BBC understands there are capercaillie - a large woodland grouse - around Ryvoan.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
One can almost hear Hawks grouse in response: “Rich? Profound? I was just trying to entertain people.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 31, 2025
But there were no tracks leading out to the center of the clearing, no fox tracks around the grouse cave.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
The board grouses that the former board members also received “VIP Main Entrance passes” to the parks, but it’s hard to say that these were significant drains on the district’s bottom line.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2023
Occasionally, someone grouses to McKim that he’s disrespecting books by selling them as decor, presumably because they’re no longer meant to be read.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 8, 2022
"Here we go again. Give Ted another idea he'll take all the credit for," Nate grouses in the latest heart-wrenching episode of "Ted Lasso."
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2021
Even when he’s en route to get a well-deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he grouses about how he got wrapped up in all of this nonsense.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 24, 2020
“D’you know,” the man grouses, “I could file a report. I stepped out for a moment, came back, and found her rummaging through the drawers of my desk. Outrageous!”
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
But although he may have groused privately, Bill Clinton did not retaliate against her; Reno remained at the Justice Department throughout his two terms.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
The hoteliers also groused that New Jersey and Philadelphia had proposed raising sales or lodging taxes in order to squeeze visitors.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
Trump’s arch, groused the New York Times, “would drastically change the sightlines between some of the country’s most symbolic memorials.”
From Slate ● May 18, 2026
“Had it not been for this infamous island, the American rebellion could not possibly have subsisted,” groused British Adm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
“Well, if we don’t win anything extra by helping you guys,” groused the guy from New York City, “why should we help? We’ve already scored our college scholarships.”
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
There was much intra-Senate grousing and griping and bickering in the days preceding Friday morning’s vote.
From Slate ● Mar. 28, 2026
At the time, “Ohio” received criticism similar to the reaction to “Streets of Minneapolis:” a mix of grousing about rich rock stars capitalizing on tragedy combined with grumbling that the song just wasn’t very good.
From Salon ● Feb. 10, 2026
It’s not just grousing that these agencies sometimes deliver lawmakers bad news.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
By Tuesday night, however, he was grousing on his Truth Social website that China wasn't giving credit to the US for its support in World War Two.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2025
But on most days, especially the warm ones, life exhausts him; the worsening traffic and graffiti and company politics, everyone grousing about bonuses, benefits, overtime.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
