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grunt

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grunt

  • /ɡɹʌnt/
  • /ɡɹʊnt/ Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌnt

Where it comes from

From Middle English grunten, from Old English grunnettan (“to grunt”), from Proto-West Germanic *grunnattjan, from Proto-Germanic *grunnatjaną (“to grunt”), frequentative of Proto-Germanic *grunnōną (“to grunt”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrun- (“to shout”).

Cognate with German grunzen (“to grunt”), Danish grynte (“to grunt”). The noun senses are all instances of zero derivation from the verb.

noun grunts

  1. A short snorting sound, often to show disapproval, or used as a reply when one is reluctant to speak. The stranger, with a comfortable kind of grunt over his pipe, put his legs up on the settle that he had to himself.
  2. The snorting cry of a pig.
  3. Any fish of the perciform family Haemulidae.
  4. A person who does ordinary and boring work.

    Similar: gofer, lackey, peon

  5. US, slang An infantry soldier. The poges stare at the grunts as though the grunts were Hell's Angels at the ballet.
  6. slang The amount of power of which a vehicle is capable. The engine might not possess quite as much grunt as the later 24v six, but it delivers invigorating performance […]
  7. Canada, US A dessert of steamed berries and dough, usually blueberries; blueberry grunt.

    Similar: fungy, fungee

verb grunts · grunting · grunted

  1. intransitive, of a person To make a grunt or grunts. to grunt and sweat under a weary life
  2. intransitive, of a pig To make a grunt or grunts.
  3. UK, intransitive, slang To break wind; to fart. Who just grunted?

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: inarticulate, unarticulate, filthy, nasty, dirty, snarl, scold, punish, infantryman, ground, ugh, gruntle, gruntling, groan, harumph, huff

Translations

Every language

noun short, snorting sound

Españolgruñido
Portuguêsgrunido
Françaisgrognement
DeutschGrunzer, Stöhnen
Italianogrugnito
Ελληνικάγρυλισμός grylismós, γρυλλισμός gryllismós, γρύλισμα grýlisma
Românăgroh, mârâit, mormăit
Русскийворча́ние vorčánije, бурча́ние burčánije

noun cry of a pig

Portuguêsgrunido
DeutschGrunzen
Italianogrugnito
Ελληνικάγρυλισμός grylismós, γρυλλισμός gryllismós, γρύλισμα grýlisma
Românăgrohăit
Русскийхрю́канье xrjúkanʹje

noun fish of the family Haemulidae

Españolburro, ronco
DeutschGrunzer
Tiếng Việt(cá) sạo

noun a person who does ordinary and boring work

Españolcurrito
DeutschHucker, Handlanger, Hilfsarbeiter, Ungelernter, Hiwi
Ελληνικάανειδίκευτος εργάτης aneidíkeftos ergátis

noun an infantry soldier

Españolmachaca
Françaisbidasse, troufion, griveton
DeutschFrontschwein, Landser
עבריתרַגְלִי raglí

noun (slang) the amount of power of which a vehicle is capable

DeutschWumms, Pfeffer
Românăputere

verb of a person: to make a grunt or grunts

Españolgruñir
Portuguêsgrunir
Françaisgrogner
Deutschgrunzen
Ελληνικάγρυλίζω grylízo, γρυλλίζω gryllízo
Românăgrohăi, mârâi, mormăi
Русскийворча́ть vorčátʹ, бурча́ть burčátʹ

verb of a pig: to make a grunt or grunts

Españolgruñir
Portuguêsgrunir
Françaisgrogner
Deutschgrunzen
Italianogrugnire
Ελληνικάγρυλίζω grylízo, γρυλλίζω gryllízo
Românăgrohăi
Русскийхрю́кать xrjúkatʹ
Tiếng Việtủn ỉn

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Cite this
MLA

"grunt." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/grunt. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

grunt. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/grunt

Chicago

"grunt." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/grunt.

BibTeX
@misc{grunt_2026,
  title = {grunt},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/grunt},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}