grumble

CEFRC1

/ˈɡɹʌmbl̩/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To complain quietly or make a low unhappy sound.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    A surly complaint.

Examples

  • She began to grumble and then to weep.

  • This action makes me grumble.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
2

Also pronounced

  • /ˈɡɹʊmbəl/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. The sound made by a hungry stomach.

  2. To make a low, growling or rumbling noise, like a hungry stomach or certain animals.

noun

Extra meaning

  1. A high thundering, rumbling or growling sound.

More examples

In context

  • He grumbles about the food constantly, but has yet to learn to cook.

  • That whiner is never without a grumble to share.

  • The distant thunder grumbles.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Workers sometimes blank loudly when they are angry about new rules.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

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”).