groan
/ˈɡɹoʊ̯n/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.12 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A low, guttural sound uttered in frustration, disapproval, or ecstasy.
verb
To make a groan.
Example Sentences
- "let out a groan"
- "We groaned at his awful jokes."
- "The wooden table groaned under the weight of the banquet."
- "My Lord of Hereford here whom you call King, / Is a foule traitour to proud Herefords King, / And if you crowne him let me propheſie, / The bloud of Engliſh ſhall manure the ground, / And future ages groane for this foule act, [...]"
- "Designed to accommodate 60,000 people per day in the 1960s, the main concourse, entrances and passageways around the station were by then positively groaning under the weight of more than 140,000 passengers every 24 hours."
- "That night the table in the outer dining room was just groaning with good things."
Etymology
From Middle English gronen, granen, from Old English grānian (“to groan; lament; murmur”), from Proto-West Germanic *grainōn, from Proto-Germanic *grainōną (“to howl; weep”), from Proto-Germanic *grīnaną (“to whine; howl; whimper”). Cognate with Scots grain (“to cry, scream”), Dutch grijnen, grienen (“to cry; sob; blubber”), German Low German grienen (“to whimper; mewl”), German greinen (“to whine; whimper”), Swedish grina (“to howl; weep; laugh”). The noun is from Middle English gron, grone, from the verb.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: gronen, grānian, *grainōn, *grainōną, *grīnaną, gron
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɡɹoʊ̯n/
- British English: /ˈɡɹəʊ̯n/