grunt

American  

[gruhnt] / grʌnt /

verb (used without object)

• grunts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• grunted,
  past participle,  past
• grunting
  present participle

1. to utter the deep, guttural sound characteristic of a hog.

2. to utter a similar sound.

3. to grumble, as in discontent.

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verb (used with object)

• grunts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• grunted,
  past participle,  past
• grunting
  present participle

1. to express with a grunt.

noun

• grunts
  plural

1. a sound of grunting.

2. New England Cooking. a dessert, typically of cherries, peaches, or apples sweetened and spiced, and topped with biscuit dough.

3. any food fish of the family Pomadasyidae (Haemulidae), found chiefly in tropical and subtropical seas, that emits grunting sounds.

4. Slang. a soldier, especially an infantryman.

5. Slang. a common or unskilled worker; laborer.

grunt British  

/ ɡrʌnt /

verb

1. (intr) (esp of pigs and some other animals) to emit a low short gruff noise

2. (when tr, may take a clause as object) to express something gruffly

   he grunted his answer

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noun

1. the characteristic low short gruff noise of pigs, etc, or a similar sound, as of disgust

2. any of various mainly tropical marine sciaenid fishes, such as Haemulon macrostomum ( Spanish grunt ), that utter a grunting sound when caught

3. slang an infantry soldier or US Marine, esp in the Vietnam War

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• gruntingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• grunts
  plural

Participles

• grunting
  present
• grunted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• grunt
  simple
• grunts
  simple
• have grunted
  perfect
• has grunted
  perfect
• am grunting
  progressive
• are grunting
  progressive
• is grunting
  progressive
• have been grunting
  perfect progressive
• has been grunting
  perfect progressive

Past

• grunted
  simple
• had grunted
  perfect
• was grunting
  progressive
• were grunting
  progressive
• had been grunting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will grunt
  simple
• will have grunted
  perfect
• will be grunting
  progressive
• will have been grunting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of grunt

First recorded before 900; Middle English grunten, Old English grunnettan, frequentative of grunian “to grunt”; cognate with German grunzen, Latin grunnīre

Explanation

If your younger brother is particularly grouchy, he might simply grunt in answer to your question about whose turn it is to take out the garbage. A grunt is a short, deep sound. If you think about the noise a pig makes, you'll have a good idea of what a grunt sounds like. It's an animal-like sound that people make when they're inarticulate, angry, sullen, or lazy — or sometimes if they're hurt or afraid. Pigs and other animals grunt too, no matter what their moods may be. The Old English root word, grunnettan, most likely came from the sound of a grunt.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grunt grunts grunted grunting

Their approach is: “If AI wants to do my grunt work, have at it. If AI wants to do our expert tasks, that will only happen over my dead body.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026

Bath's forward grunt got them over the line against Tigers, with prop Thomas du Toit scoring a hat-trick.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026

More than their predecessors, they have an innate versatility with the fast-evolving technology and little deference for the notion they have to pay their dues with repetitive grunt work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026

You cannot take the pain out of writing, but you can lessen some of the grunt work and redirect your energy, and despair, elsewhere.

From Slate ● May 24, 2026

Mostly with Hila’s fancy friends, but his mother’s parents had even gone, and she had even earned a grunt of approval from his grandfather, which was very high praise.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

Hedgehogs may be communicating with more than just snuffles, grunts and snorts, according to scientists who have discovered the animal's hearing range.

From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2026

Of course, the Patriots won their six Super Bowls with Tom Brady and Grumpy Lobster Boat Captain Bill Belichick, who built a dynastic partnership before it fizzled in a fog of grunts and perceived slights.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 26, 2026

Scam centre staff run the "whole gamut", from expendable grunts held in slave-like conditions to skilled programmers working for high salaries, said veteran Myanmar expert David Scott Mathieson, a former Human Rights Watch monitor.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2025

When he wasn’t examining extinct rodent-like skulls in Uruguay, Darwin remarked on “ludicrous” looking capybara making “peculiar” grunts.

From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2024

They go back and forth as they try to get more than nods and grunts from him.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh

He grunted as West and three men transferred him from the small plane to the truck.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025

As the video from the event shows, he threw his back into it, taxing himself enough that he grunted from the exertion.

From Salon ● Jan. 22, 2025

Sitting in the gallery, Peterson shook his head and grunted in disagreement during Brill’s argument.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 18, 2023

My father grunted in disgust at the clearly stupid question.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 23, 2023

The moment his skin lost contact with the turquoise necklace, the creature grunted.

From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young

With the match on serve, Sabalenka was hit with a hindrance call for grunting, triggering a long video review and boos.

From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026

He plays it in a way that’s equal parts grunting and scatting and which, as Kirk biographer John Kruth has noted, was essentially adopted wholesale by rock star Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026

You could choose Homer Simpson grunting “D’oh!” or Eddie Van Halen shredding part of “Eruption.”

From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2025

I watched an army of trucks and hard hats, grinding and grunting on the blank canvas of a town in ruins.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2025

The others watch, grunting their disapproval: too small, too flimsy, an ugly thing to see.

From "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate

Related Words

• groan