groan Hear it!

groan definition

groan (grōn)

intransitive verb

  1. to utter a deep sound expressing pain, distress, or disapproval
  2. to make a creaking or grating sound, as from great strain a heavy gate groaning on its hinges
  3. to be weighed down or overburdened as to the point of groaning a table groaning beneath a Christmas feast, a people that groaned under tyranny

Etymology: ME gronien < OE granian, akin to grin, Ger greinen, to weep

transitive verb

to utter with a groan or groans

noun

a sound made in groaning

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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