grunt

views updated Jun 08 2018

grunt / grənt/ • v. [intr.] (of an animal, esp. a pig) make a low, short guttural sound. ∎  (of a person) make a low inarticulate sound resembling this, typically to express effort or indicate assent.• n. 1. a low, short guttural sound made by an animal or a person. 2. inf. a low-ranking or unskilled soldier or other worker. ∎  a common soldier. 3. an edible shoaling fish (family Pomadasyidae) of tropical inshore waters and coral reefs, able to make a loud noise by grinding its teeth and amplifying the sound in the swim bladder.ORIGIN: Old English grunnettan, of Germanic origin and related to German grunzen; probably originally imitative.

Pomadasyidae

views updated May 18 2018

Pomadasyidae (javelinfish, grunt; subclass Actinopterygii, order Perciformes) A large family of marine, perchlike fish that have large eyes, a truncated tail fin, a long dorsal fin, and strong spines to the dorsal and pelvic fins. There are about 175 species, distributed worldwide.

grunt

views updated May 23 2018

grunt make the characteristic sound of a pig. OE. grunnettan = OHG. grunnizōn (G. grunzen), intensive formation on the imit. base *ʒrun- (OE. grunian grunt, OHG. grun wailing, MHG. grunnen); cf. DISGRUNTLED.

grunt

views updated May 14 2018

grunt
1. See POMADASYIDAE.

2. See THERAPONIDAE.