grunt

[ gruhnt ]
See synonyms for: gruntgruntedgrunts on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)
  1. to utter the deep, guttural sound characteristic of a hog.

  2. to utter a similar sound.

  1. to grumble, as in discontent.

verb (used with object)
  1. to express with a grunt.

noun
  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.: See also pandowdy.

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

  2. Slang. a soldier, especially an infantryman.

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

Origin of grunt

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English grunten, Old English grunnettan, frequentative of grunian “to grunt”; cognate with German grunzen, Latin grunnīre

Other words from grunt

  • grunt·ing·ly, adverb

Words Nearby grunt

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use grunt in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for grunt

grunt

/ (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

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

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

Origin of grunt

1
Old English grunnettan, probably of imitative origin; compare Old High German grunnizōn, grunni moaning, Latin grunnīre

Derived forms of grunt

  • gruntingly, adverb

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