growl

[groul]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR growl ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to utter a deep guttural sound of anger or hostility: The dog growled at the mail carrier.

to murmur or complain angrily; grumble.

to rumble: The thunder growled.

Jazz. to use flutter-tonguing in playing a wind instrument.

verb (used with object)

to express by growling.

noun

the act or sound of growling.

Jazz. the technique of flutter-tonguing.

Origin of growl

1350–1400; Middle English groule to rumble (said of the bowels); cognate with German grollen

Related formsgrowl·ing·ly, adverbun·der·growl, nounun·growl·ing, adjective

Synonym study

2. See complain.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for growl

moan, grunt, howl, rumble, bellow, roar, thunder, grumble, snarl, bark, roll, gnarl, gnarr

Examples from the Web for growl

Contemporary Examples of growl

Students moan and growl and shriek and yawp, as if exorcising demons in a ritualistic ceremony.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze
Lizzie Crocker
January 9, 2015
She smiles, which sounds like a small thing, but a lot of Republicans growl.
With Ernst and Gardner, Republicans Think They’ve Found the Formula
Eleanor Clift
November 4, 2014
When she moves in toward him, he turns his back with a growl.
Stacks: Hitting the Note with the Allman Brothers Band
Grover Lewis
March 15, 2014
“A growl and a shake,” the attorney, Jasper Monti, tells The Daily Beast.
Woman Bites Her Dog, Illinois Police Say, Charging Analise Garner With the Assault
Michael Daly
May 1, 2012

Historical Examples of growl

The voice, too, when he spoke, was as deep and as fierce as the growl of a beast of prey.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
The head-master bowed to the bishop, and walked away, leaving Ketch on the growl.
The Channings
Mrs. Henry Wood
They barely raised their heads to growl, and did not answer Pierre's questions.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola
Beyond a growl or a grunt, the dog took its punishment silently.
White Fang
Jack London
This growl he could not suppress; nor did the man-animal resent it by giving him a blow on the head.
White Fang
Jack London

British Dictionary definitions for growl

growl

verb

(of animals, esp when hostile) to utter (sounds) in a low inarticulate mannerthe dog growled at us

to utter (words) in a gruff or angry mannerhe growled an apology

(intr) to make sounds suggestive of an animal growlingthe thunder growled around the lake

noun

the act or sound of growling

jazz an effect resembling a growl, produced at the back of the throat when playing a wind instrument

Derived Formsgrowlingly, adverb

Word Origin for growl

C18: from earlier grolle, from Old French grouller to grumble

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 growl

1660s, from Middle English grollen "to rumble, growl" (early 15c.), from Old French grouler "to rumble," said to be from Frankish; probably ultimately of imitative origin. Related: Growled; growling. The noun is 1727, from the verb.