growl

Alternative forms

• groil (dialectal)
• groul (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English groulen, grollen, gurlen, from Old English gryllan, from Proto-Germanic *gruljaną, related to Middle Dutch grollen ("to make a noise, rumble, murmur, grunt, croak, be angry"; > Dutch grollen (“to grumble”)), German grollen (“to rumble, be angry, bear ill will”), Old English grillan, griellan (“to provoke, offend; gnash the teeth”). More at grill.

Pronunciation

• enPR: gräŭl, IPA^(key): /ɡɹaʊl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊl

Noun

growl (plural growls)

1. The deep, threatening sound made in the throat by an animal; an aggressive grumbling.
2. The sound made by a hungry stomach.
3. (slang, archaic) A four-wheeled cab.

Verb

growl (third-person singular simple present growls, present participle growling, simple past and past participle growled)

1. (intransitive) To utter a deep guttural sound, as an angry animal; to give forth an angry, grumbling sound.

   The dog growled at me as I walked past.

2. (transitive) To express (something) by growling.

   The old man growled his displeasure at the postman.

3. (software) To send a user a message via the Growl software library.

Anagrams

• glowr