grunt

[ gruhnt ]

verb (used without object)

1. to utter the deep, guttural sound characteristic of a hog.
2. to utter a similar sound.
3. 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. pandowdy.
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

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

Derived Forms

• ˈgruntingly, adverb

Other Words From

• grunting·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of grunt¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of grunt¹

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

Example Sentences

I’ll spare you the irony of people who grunt about “muh First Amendment rights” when they’re confronted with the rotten sickness of their online cruelty and conspiracy theories, now being the leaders of the most potent assault on political speech and expression in the last hundred years.

From Salon

"Roseanne" peeled back the veneer around the grunt work of parenting and allowed ongoing problems in the family to stay messy and unresolved.

From Salon

When he labored to sit or stand, his accompanying grunt sounded like, “Dear God, help me.”

From Literature

He bore down on Samir with a grunt.

From Literature

The blinded Mongol made a startled grunt.

From Literature