grouse1
/ɡraʊs
/noun (plural same)
1A medium to large game bird with a plump body and feathered legs, the male being larger and more brightly coloured than the female.
- Family Tetraonidae (or Phasianidae): several genera, especially Lagopus and Tetrao.
- Pair up female and male black grouse that have no chemistry - the female isn't interested in the male.
- Business as usual is what has driven the greater sage grouse to its precarious brink.
1.1 [mass noun] The flesh of the grouse as food.Whole roast grouse may still come with game chips and bread sauce but there is game jus rather than over-thickened gravy....
- As we near the beginning of the autumn game season, consider brambles as accompaniments in sauces; with their tart sweetness, they complement perfectly the richness of game such as venison, grouse or pigeon.
- Between you and me, I had too much grouse and red wine last night and mackerel is very good for lowering cholesterol.
Origin
Early 16th century: perhaps related to medieval Latin gruta or to Old French grue 'crane'.
grouch from late 19th century:
The words grouch and grudge (Late Middle English) are variants of obsolete grutch, from Old French grouchier ‘to grumble, murmur’, of unknown origin. Early 19th-century grouse may be related.
Rhymes
grouse2
/ɡraʊs/verb [no object]
Complain about something trivial; grumble: she heard him grousing about his assistant...
- I expected to drag you, moaning, groaning and grousing, out of your warm bed.
- There's been quite a lot of grumbling and grousing in corporate America.
- For nearly as long as there has been an entrepreneurial space industry, there has been griping and grousing about regulatory issues, as well as lobbying for legislation to resolve those flaws.
Synonyms
grumble, complain, moan, groan, protest, whine, bleat, carp, cavil, lodge a complaint, make a complaint, make a fuss;
object to, speak out against, rail at, oppose, lament, bewail, grieve over, sorrow about, sorrow for, sigh over
informal bellyache, beef, bitch, grouch, whinge, kick up a fuss, kick up a stink, sound off, go on
British informal gripe, grizzle, chunter, create
North American informal kvetch
South African informal chirp
British dated crib, natter
archaic plain over
noun
A complaint or grumble: our biggest grouse was about the noise of construction work...
- He had even described his short public life as a ‘long litany of failures ‘and ‘heartfelt personal grouses.’
- Since then we have had grouses about red-tape, taxation, education, high interest rates, bad weather, directors’ pay, students' fees and much more besides.
- I dislike hanging around people with lots of grouses.
Synonyms
grumble, complaint, moan, groan, whine, grievance, objection, protest, protestation, cavil, quibble
informal beef, gripe, bellyache, whinge, grouch
Law, British plaint
Derivatives
grouser
/ noun ...- The people get labeled as ‘grousers,’ when in fact they are talented employees that are crying for leadership that understands as much about the business as they do.
Origin
Early 19th century: of unknown origin; compare with grouch.
grouse3
/ɡraʊs/adjective Australian /NZ informal
Very good (used as a general term of approval): the car was a grouse tomato red which everyone liked...
- Civil war was the winner on the day and I hope youse all have a grouse night.
- Apart from that, though, the rest is pretty grouse.
Origin
1920s: of unknown origin.