/ graʊs; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ C , U ] ( pl. grouse ) a bird with a fat body and feathers on its legs, which people shoot for sport and food; the meat of this bird :
grouse shooting
grouse moors
roast grouse
2.
[ C ] ( informal ) a complaint
■ verb
[ v , v speech ] grouse (about sb/sth) ( informal ) to complain about sb/sth in a way that other people find annoying
SYN grumble
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WORD ORIGIN
noun sense 1 early 16th cent.: perhaps related to medieval Latin gruta or to Old French grue crane.
noun sense 2 and verb early 19th cent.: of unknown origin; compare with grouch .