gruntn.
/ɡrʌnt/, U.S. /ɡrənt/ 1. The characteristic low gruff sound made by a hog; a similar sound uttered by other animals.
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the world > animals > by noises > voice or sound made by animal > [noun] > grunt or snort
snorec1330
grunt?1615
gruntlea1689
sneer17..
snort1808
snork1814
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Artiodactyla (cloven-hoofed animals) > pig > [noun] > male > castrated or hog > sound made by
grunt?1615
?1615 G. Chapman tr. Homer Odysses (new ed.) x. 324 Swines snowts, swines bodies, tooke they, bristles, grunts.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 400 The Grunts of Bristled Boars.
1820 P. B. Shelley Œdipus Tyrannus i. 12 Let me hear Their everlasting grunts and whines no more!
1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities ii. v. 58 With a deprecatory grunt, the jackal again complied.
1894 A. Robertson Nuggets 68 What can ye expec' frae a pig but a grunt.
2. in extended use.1879 H. Drummond in Life (1899) 162 [The geyser] gave a grunt and then threw up a little water.
a. A similar sound, uttered by a human being; sometimes expressive of approbation, or the opposite. †In early use, a groan.
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the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > sounds like animal or bird sounds > [noun] > grunt
grunting13..
groiningc1440
grunt1553
oink1961
1553 J. Brende tr. Q. Curtius Rufus Hist. x. f. 214v But he had not so sone dronke of Hercules cuppe, but that he gaue a grunte as thoughe he had bene striken to the harte.
1567 G. Turberville tr. Ovid Heroycall Epist. 80v When..round about I heard Of dying men the grunts.
1774 J. Cook Jrnl. 6 Sept. (1969) II. 530 Two or three old men..giving a kind of grunt, signifying as I thought their approbation.
1829 E. Bulwer-Lytton Devereux I. ii. iv. 188 They raised the fallen watchman, who, after three or four grunts, began slowly to recover himself.
1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia I. iv. viii. 470 The Britannic Majesty gave some grunt of acquiescence.
1899 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Oct. 453/1 He emitted only a sulky grunt.
b. U.S. slang. An infantry soldier.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > common soldier > [noun]
soldiera1300
sergeantc1300
private soldier1566
common soldier1569
private man1651
man1690
(private) centinel1710
single sentinel1721
private1775
single soldier1816
troop1832
ranksman1845
dog soldier1852
ranker1890
other rank1904
mucko1917
squaddie1933
craftsman1942
peon1957
grunt1969
troopie1972
1969 I. Kemp Brit. G.I. in Vietnam v. 106 The sound of..engines, among the most welcome of all music to the average infantryman—or ‘grunt’, as we were impolitely called—in Vietnam.
1970 Times 28 May 7/5 These luckless victims of the American military machine are known as ‘grunts’, a name said to be derived from their way of complaining as they trudge along the jungle trails.
3.
a. A name for American fishes of the genus Hæmulon and allied species (as Orthopristis chrysopterus). So called from the noise they make when taken.Apparently not connected with Dutch gront, grunt, which is a shortened form of grondel grundel n., and denotes a different fish ( Cyprinus gobio).
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Percoidei > [noun] > family Pomadysidae (grunts) > member of genus Haemulon
grunta1705
red-mouth1704
porgy1725
margate1735
Margareta1757
redthroat1840
flannel-mouth1882
redgullet1890
a1705 J. Ray Synopsis Avium & Piscium (1713) ii. 96 The Gray Grunt.
1725 H. Sloane Voy. Islands II. 291 Gray-Grunt. It was taken at Old Harbour.
1735 C. Mortimer in Philos. Trans. 1733–4 (Royal Soc.) 38 316 Perca marina capite striato. The Grunt.
1792 M. Riddell Voy. Madeira 69 The cobler-fish, the king-fish..the grunt, and the flying gurnard.
1884–5 Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) III. 218 Grunt, pig-fish, and red-mouth, are the principal common names of the species of Hæmulon..Another fish, also called grunt and pig-fish..is the Orthopristis chrysopterus.
1885 C. F. Holder Marvels Animal Life 176 Grunts that opened their wide mouths in audible protest.
b. An English fish, ? the perch.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Percidae (perches) > [noun] > perca fluviatilis (common perch)
bassc1000
perch1381
basec1425
river perch1574
bast1676
Welshman1709
barse1753
grunt1851
redfin1946
1851 E. B. Browning Casa Guidi Windows i. xxix. 78 The pool in front Wherein the hill-stream trout are cast, to wait The beatific vision, and the grunt Used at refectory, keeps its weedy state.
1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down Grunt, a fish, the perch.
Draft additions 1993
Originally, a junior assistant to a worker on electricity or telephone lines (= groundhog n. 3); hence, any unskilled or low-ranking assistant; a general dogsbody; (somewhat derogatory) a labourer or proletarian, a nobody; spec. in North American Military slang, an infantryman, common soldier. colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.).
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society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to status > [noun] > subordinate
servantc1400
server1483
under-workman1608
under-labourera1667
under-worker1701
grinder1814
mate1840
grunt1908
report1973
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > [noun] > line > one who maintains or works on
lineman1858
linesman1883
trouble-shooter1905
grunt1908
trouble-hunter1910
1908 Electr. World 1 Aug. 243/2 In setting the poles the driver would drive up close to the hole, block the wagon, unhook the double tree, drop the tongue and the ‘grunt’ would have the chain on the pole and the pole would be set in the hole.
1926 Amer. Speech 1 659/1 He must, in order to become a good lineman, start as a ‘grunt’ (ground man); later he will ‘win his spurs’ (become a pole hiker).
1926 Amer. Speech 1 659/2 Soon the linemen..order the grunts to slack the rope off so that they can take another hold on the wires.
1929 J. Riordan On the Make xiv. 288 As the knight had a squire, so the lineman had his ‘grunt’.
1941 Amer. Speech 16 166 Grunt, electrician's helper (Signal Corps).
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §456/4 Common laborer,..grunt, grunter, heister, hefter, a workman who heaves or lifts.
1979 F. Pohl Jem xiv. 244 Two of her grunts were holding another while he vomited.
1985 New Yorker 29 Apr. 69/3 They worked for one of the fastest-growing banks in the country,..that had a long-distance sprinter—a wizard who had gone from grunt to senior executive vice-president in less than five years.
Draft additions 1993
4. attributive in sense 2b (frequently as grunt work), usually designating a low-ranking but necessary occupation or task considered dull, menial, or undemanding. colloquial.
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society > occupation and work > work > [adjective] > low or menial
villainc1485
servile?1518
clock-punching1920
grunt1977
1977 Fortune June 165/3 Those M.B.A.'s will spend two years or so in the bull pen crunching numbers and doing grunt work. They won't run deals themselves.
1983 G. Benford Against Infinity ii. vi. 80 As a boy he always drew more dull grunt labor than the men..and now it was pleasant to graduate up a notch and watch somebody else hustle at it.
1987 Business Rev. Weekly 2 Oct. 92/1 He took a job at Detroit law firm Clark, Klein, Winter, Parsons & Prewitt long enough to get bored with legal grunt work.
1990 Science 1 June 1078/1 Using this model you can do the systematic, grunt science—the step by step things that have to be done to work out the best vaccine.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
gruntv.
/ɡrʌnt/, U.S. /ɡrənt/ 1. † b. To groan. Obsolete.
a. intransitive. Of a hog: To utter its characteristic low gruff sound. Also of other animals and of persons (with conscious allusion to the pig): To utter a sound resembling this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Artiodactyla (cloven-hoofed animals) > pig > [verb (intransitive)] > make sound
gruntc725
gruntlec1400
wrine1570
fream1575
whick1693
oink1933
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > sounds like animal or bird sounds > [verb (intransitive)] > grunt
gruntc1440
hoinec1440
yoffc1630
grumph1807
oink1933
c725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) G. 173 Grunnire, grunnettan.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 4233 He vemde & grunte & stod aȝen as it were a strong bor.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. lxv. 1215 Þe olde leoun reseþ woodliche on men and oonlich grunteþ on wommen, and reseþ seelden on children but in gret hunger.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (1839) xxvii. 274 In that Desert ben many wylde men..thei gronten, as Pygges.
c1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Katherine iv. 1481 Eke your goddis arn not soo goode as swyn—Thei can noȝt grunten whan hem eyleth ought.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 576/2 I grunte, as a horse dothe whan he his spored.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 49v As the Hogge is still grunting, digging & wrooting in the mucke, so [etc.].
1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island vii. lxxxiii. 105 Still did hunt..In his deep trough for swill..Gryll could but grunt.
a1740 T. Tickell Epist. from Lady to Gent. at Avignon 104 Thy brinded boars may slumber undismay'd, Or grunt secure beneath the chestnut shade.
1771 J. Beattie Minstrel: Bk. 1st lviii. 30 Sneak with the scoundrel fox, or grunt with glutton swine.
1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 365 Sleek unwieldly porkers were grunting in the repose and abundance of their pens.
1831 W. Youatt Horse x. 196 Every horse violently exercised on a full stomach, or when overloaded with fat, will grunt very much like a hog..but there are some horses who will at all times utter this sound, if suddenly touched with the whip or spur. They are called Grunters, and should be avoided.
1865 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Rationalism I. 66 He told how an aged minister had been interrupted.. by a devil who was grunting behind him like a pig.
1893 Earl of Dunmore Pamirs II. 192 Yaks grunted after the manner of their kind.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > cry or shout (loudness) > cry of emotion or pain > [verb (intransitive)] > moan or groan
groan7..
grunt1340
grenta1387
grintc1386
moanc1700
1340–70 Alisaunder 388 For greefe of hur grim stroke grunt full many.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. ciii. f. xlv Many knyghtes vpon bothe parties lay slayne, & gruntynge vpon the erthe.
1535 W. Marshall tr. Marsilius of Padua Def. of Peace To Bk. (verso title page) Those persones I waraunt aswell pleased shall be all. As wood Rome shall grunte, at the rubbynge on the gall.
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. i. 79 Whol'd beare the scornes..To grunt and sweate vnder this weary life?
2.
a. To utter a similar sound, expressive of discontent, dissent, effort, fatigue, etc.; to grumble, murmur.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > displeasure > discontent or dissatisfaction > state of complaining > complain [verb (intransitive)]
murkeOE
misspeakOE
yomer971
chidea1000
murkenOE
grutch?c1225
mean?a1300
hum13..
plainta1325
gruntc1325
plainc1325
musea1382
murmurc1390
complain1393
contrary1393
flitec1400
pinea1425
grummec1430
aggrudge1440
hoinec1440
mutterc1450
grudge1461
channerc1480
grunch1487
repine1529
storm?1553
expostulate1561
grumblea1586
gruntle1591
chunter1599
swagger1599
maunder1622
orp1634
objurgate1642
pitter1672
yelp1706
yammer1794
natter1804
murgeon1808
groan1816
squawk1875
jower1879
grouse1887
beef1888
to whip the cat1892
holler1904
yip1907
peeve1912
grouch1916
nark1916
to sound off1918
create1919
moana1922
crib1925
tick1925
bitch1930
gripe1932
bind1942
drip1942
kvetchc1950
to rag on1979
wrinch2011
c1325 Body & Soul 104 in Map's Poems (Camden) 341 The bodi grunte and gon to seye, Gost, thou hast the wrong i-wis.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke v. f. 21–6 The Phariseis, they grunte and murmour, and haue enuy at hym.
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. 1156/1 Wherat Sir Henrie Benefield grunted, and was highlie offended.
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Evangelists & Acts (Matt. vi. 5) [Saul] grunts against himself because he [God] handles him nat after his own mind.
?1705 E. Hickeringill Vindic. Char. Priest-craft 21 Not Priestcraft and Superstition, not grunting and groaning, and looking surly, and sighing.
1804 A. Wilson Let. 24 Dec. in Poems & Lit. Prose (1876) I. 114 Isaac grunting and lagging behind.
1890 H. Caine Bondman II. ii A pace or two behind came Chalse..grunting hoarsely in his husky throat.
b. transitive. To utter or express with a grunt; to breathe out with a grunt.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > sounds like animal or bird sounds > [verb (transitive)] > grunt
grunt1613
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 331 A Bore..there fell downe dead of a wound which they gave him, grunting out his last gaspe.
1786 R. Burns Poems 188 Grunt up a solemn, lengthen'd groan.
1787 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 216 Learning, with his Greekish face, Grunts out some Latin ditty.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xv. 173 Grunting their monotonous grumblings as they prowled about.
1875 F. T. Buckland Log-bk. Fisherman 100 He only grunted his gratitude.
a. transitive. To grind (the teeth). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > manifestation of anger > show anger [verb (intransitive)] > gnash or grind the teeth
gristbitec900
grindc1000
gnasta1300
grinta1300
gnacche13..
beatc1360
grunta1400
gristc1460
gnash1496
grash1563
infrendiate1623
crinch1808
the mind > emotion > anger > manifestation of anger > show anger [verb (transitive)] > gnash or grind the teeth
gnasta1300
grunta1400
grate1555
gnash1590
beat1597
grit1797
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > harsh or discordant quality > harsh or discordant [verb (transitive)] > grate > grind or gnash (teeth)
grind1340
grunta1400
crashc1440
graislea1522
grate1555
jar1568
beat1597
champ1775
grit1797
a1400 Coer de L. 2107 He grunte his teeth.
1483 W. Caxton in tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 331 b/1 She..lost her speche & foomyd atte mouth lyke a bore & grunted her teeth to gydre merueylously.
b. intransitive. To grind with the teeth. (Cf. grind v.1, grint v.) Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > harsh or discordant quality > harsh or discordant [verb (intransitive)] > grate > grind or gnash teeth
gristbitec900
grindc1000
gnasta1300
grinta1300
gnacche13..
chirka1387
grenta1425
grunt1426
gristc1460
gnash1496
to crash with the teeth1530
grash1563
granch1736
chark1825
1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 10470 Grucchynge, he grunte wyth hys teth.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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