grunt

American  

[gruhnt] / grʌnt /

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.

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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.

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

• gruntingly adverb

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

Aryna Sabalenka was called for hindrance for a change in her grunt during her Australian Open semi-final against Elina Svitolina in January.

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026

Businesses may determine it’s not an effective move in the short run to keep giving new employees textbook grunt work as they slowly build their experience.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 28, 2026

Robert Alver said that Pretti worked with him as a lab technician beginning in 2009 at the University of Minnesota, and did much of the grunt work.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 25, 2026

It doesn’t hurt that making stuff is increasingly easy too, thanks to the cameras on our phones and mixing boards on our laptops and artificial intelligence that does the grunt work for us.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 19, 2026

The twrch tryth caught it in its jaws and gave a grunt of pleasure.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

Related Words

• groan