grunt
[gruhnt]
- to utter the deep, guttural sound characteristic of a hog.
- to utter a similar sound.
- to grumble, as in discontent.
Show More
- to express with a grunt.
Show More
- a sound of grunting.
- New England Cookery. a dessert, typically of cherries, peaches, or apples sweetened and spiced, and topped with biscuit dough.
- any food fish of the family Pomadasyidae (Haemulidae), found chiefly in tropical and subtropical seas, that emits grunting sounds.
- Slang. a soldier, especially an infantryman.
- Slang. a common or unskilled worker; laborer.
Show More
Origin of grunt
before 900; Middle English grunten, Old English grunnettan, frequentative of grunian to grunt; cognate with German grunzen, Latin grunnīre
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for grunt
Contemporary Examples
The grunt takes a hard look at our interpreter, rotates his M16 and opens the vehicle door, motioning for us to get out.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban ValleyMatt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman
November 15, 2014
The grunt asks us where we are going and we respond, “to the Korengal.”
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban ValleyMatt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman
November 15, 2014
As a grunt, he lectured a high-ranking officer in protest of Marines who attacked a Vietnamese child.
Fortunately, the Food Sense App for the iPhone does the grunt work for you.
Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went.
Historical Examples
The three gave Andy a look and a grunt, but otherwise they paid no attention to him.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
There was a brief shifting of eyes toward him, and a grunt from Jeff; that was all.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
He did not speak, but he made an inarticulate noise between a grunt and a sniff.
Quaint CourtshipsVarious
Mr Verloc, after a grunt of disapproving surprise, returned to the sofa.
The Secret AgentJoseph Conrad
The grunt of the human hog (Pignoramus intolerabilis) with an audible memory.
The Devil's DictionaryAmbrose Bierce
grunt
- (intr) (esp of pigs and some other animals) to emit a low short gruff noise
- (when tr, may take a clause as object) to express something grufflyhe grunted his answer
Show More
- the characteristic low short gruff noise of pigs, etc, or a similar sound, as of disgust
- any of various mainly tropical marine sciaenid fishes, such as Haemulon macrostomum (Spanish grunt), that utter a grunting sound when caught
- US slang an infantry soldier or US Marine, esp in the Vietnam War
Show More
Word Origin
Old English grunnettan, probably of imitative origin; compare Old High German grunnizōn, grunni moaning, Latin grunnīre
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 grunt
v.
Old English grunnettan "to grunt," frequentative of grunian "to grunt," probably imitative (cf. Danish grynte, Old High German grunnizon, German grunzen "to grunt," Latin grunnire "to grunt"). Related: Grunted; grunting.
Show More
n.
1550s, from grunt (v.); as a type of fish, from 1713; meaning "infantry soldier" emerged in U.S. military slang during Vietnam War (first recorded in print 1969); used since 1900 of various low-level workers. Grunt work first recorded 1977.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper