grueling

[groo-uh-ling, groo-ling]

adjective

exhausting; very tiring; arduously severe: the grueling Boston marathon.

noun

any trying or exhausting procedure or experience.

Nearby words

Also especially British, gru·el·ling.

Origin of grueling

1850–55; slang gruel punishment (noun), punish (v.) + -ing², -ing¹

Related formsgru·el·ing·ly, adverb

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

Examples from the Web for gruelling

Harry, the expedition patron, announced last month that he will join the gruelling 210-mile trek across Antarctica this winter.
Thanks Bro! Royal Charity Donates £100,000 to Harry's South Pole Mission|Tom Sykes|May 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Fortunately Juarez was in fine condition, or he could never have stood the gruelling work ahead.
Frontier Boys on the Coast|Capt. Wyn Roosevelt
It was one phase of the campaign that closely approximated the gruelling trench warfare in France.
War in the Garden of Eden|Kermit Roosevelt
And into the whirl of it Carter Brent plunged with a zest born of youth and of muscles iron-hard from the gruelling trail.
Snowdrift|James B. Hendryx

He's like a fractious colt just now—but when he's had a bit of gruelling, he'll run true to form.
The Tempering|Charles Neville Buck
Besides, the utter mystery that enveloped the affair was gruelling to the mind.
The Girl Aviators' Sky Cruise|Margaret Burnham

British Dictionary definitions for gruelling

gruelling

US grueling

adjective

severe or tiringa gruelling interview

noun

informal a severe experience, esp punishment

Word Origin for gruelling

C19: from now obsolete vb gruel to exhaust, punish

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 gruelling

gruelling

adj.

also grueling, "exhausting, punishing," 1891, from late 18c. slang get one's gruel "receive one's punishment," from gruel.