grumble
/ˈɡɹʌmbl̩/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.80 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A high thundering, rumbling or growling sound.
verb
To make a low, growling or rumbling noise, like a hungry stomach or certain animals.
Intransitive verb
verb
To complain; to murmur or mutter with discontent; to make ill-natured complaints in a low voice and a surly manner.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "That whiner is never without a grumble to share."
- "The distant thunder grumbles."
- "It made his stomach grumble in protest to think the mule was eating, and here he was worrying about her with an empty belly of his own."
- "He grumbles about the food constantly, but has yet to learn to cook."
- "They sea-saw'd high, They sea-saw'd low, At length they both did tumble, We both are down We both must own, Let neither of us grumble."
- "He grumbled that there was no grain "in the country" and that people were talking instead of working to provide it."
Etymology
Probably from Middle French grommeler, from Old French grumeler (“to murmur, grumble”), from Middle Dutch *grommelen ("to murmur, mutter, grunt"; > Modern Dutch grommelen (“to grumble”)), frequentative of Middle Dutch grommen (“to growl, grunt”). Cognate with Middle Low German grummelen (> Low German grummeln (“to grumble”)), German grummeln (“to grumble”), Norwegian dialectal grymja (“to growl, grunt”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: grommeler, grumeler, *grommelen, grommen