groan

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
6
Words With Friends
8
Letters
5
Pronunciation
/ˈɡɹəʊ̯n/
See all 8 pronunciations
/ˈɡɹəʊ̯n/ · /ˈɡɹɵ̞ʊ̯n/ · /ˈɡɹoʊ̯n/ · /ˈɡɹɔʊ̯n/ · /ˈɡɹəʉ̯n/ · /ˈɡɹɐʉ̯n/ · /ɡɾon/ · /ɡɾoːn/

Definition of groan

6 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief.
    “let out a groan”
See all 6 definitions

noun

  1. A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief.
    “let out a groan”
  2. A low, guttural sound uttered in frustration, disapproval, or ecstasy.
  3. A low creaking sound from applied pressure or weight.

verb

  1. To make 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.”
  2. (figuratively)To seemingly creak under the strain of being heavily laden.
    “That night the table in the outer dining room was just groaning with good things.”
    “Bookshelves groan under the bloated weight of tomes detailing Great Straight Marriages.”
    “Whenever Ms. Rompoti’s curvy protagonist, an event planner named Sienna, was in a scene, the A.I. constantly referenced her weight, for example, noting that a chair groaned when she sat down.”
  3. (obsolete)To strive after earnestly, as if with groans.
    “Nothing but holy, pure, and clear, / Or that which groaneth to be so.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

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”).…

See full 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.

Hooks

1 extension · 1 back

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