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grunt

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

See also: Grunt, grünt, and gruńt

English

Etymology

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.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡɹʌnt/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌnt

Noun

grunt (plural grunts)

  1. A short snorting sound, often to show disapproval, or used as a reply when one is reluctant to speak.
  2. The snorting cry of a pig.
  3. Any fish of the perciform family Haemulidae.
  4. A person who does ordinary and boring work.
    Synonyms: gofer, lackey, peon
  5. (US, military slang) An infantry soldier.
    Coordinate term: pogue
    • 1979, Gustav Hasford, The Short-Timers, New York: Bantam Books, published 1980, →ISBN, page 39:
      The poges stare at the grunts as though the grunts were Hell's Angels at the ballet.
    • 1984, Charles Robert Anderson, The Grunts, Berkley Books, →ISBN, page xii:
      The events described are those encountered by only 160 men, though the adversity recounted is representative of that experienced by all grunts in Vietnam.
    • 1986, James Cameron, Aliens, spoken by Burke (Paul Reiser):
      He can't make that kind of decision. He's just a grunt!
  6. (slang) The amount of power of which a vehicle is capable.
    • 1992, Autocar & Motor, volume 192, page 61:
      The engine might not possess quite as much grunt as the later 24v six, but it delivers invigorating performance […]
    • 2006 February, Torque, page 56:
      With this much grunt, it is surprising that the engine is relatively quiet.
    • 2021 February, The Road Ahead, Brisbane, page 55, column 2:
      The lack of bottom-end grunt presents as a particular problem in hilly terrain where the five-speed manual gearbox really earns its keep.
  7. (Canada, US) A dessert of steamed berries and dough, usually blueberries; blueberry grunt.
    Synonyms: fungy, fungee

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

grunt (third-person singular simple present grunts, present participle grunting, simple past and past participle grunted)

  1. (intransitive, of a person) To make a grunt or grunts.
  2. (intransitive, of a pig) To make a grunt or grunts.
  3. (intransitive, UK, slang) To break wind; to fart.
    Who just grunted?

Translations

See also

The frequentative form gruntle.

References

  1. [1]
    Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “grunt”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Czech

Middle English

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Nynorsk

Old Dutch

Old High German

Old Polish

Polish

Serbo-Croatian

Swedish

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