/ grʌnt; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb
1.
[ v ] ( of animals, especially pigs ) to make a short low sound in the throat
2.
( of people ) to make a short low sound in your throat, especially to show that you are in pain, annoyed or not interested; to say sth using this sound :
[ v ]
He pulled harder on the rope, grunting with the effort.
When I told her what had happened she just grunted and turned back to her book.
[ vn ]
He grunted something about being late and rushed out.
[also v speech ]
■ noun
1.
a short, low sound made by a person or an animal (especially a pig) :
to give a grunt of effort / pain
2.
( NAmE , informal ) a worker who does boring tasks for low pay
3.
( NAmE , informal ) a soldier of low rank
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English grunnettan , of Germanic origin and related to German grunzen ; probably originally imitative.