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Glite Dictionary
😒 To complain quietly 🔊 To make a sound 😒 A soft complaint 🌩️ A low sound
to grumble

to grumble

7 3.7
To make a long low sound like distant thunder
  • verb
  • /ˈɡrʌmbl/
translation icon : retumbar
  • The steam engine grumbles quietly as it heats up, releasing a low, continuous sound.
  • stomach grumbled
  • grumbling noise
  • engines grumble

I kind of like that of hearing the when you hear your stomach do like whatever from being hungry, that it's like a person inside you grumbling.

Examples

  • The wind gasped abruptly, then pushed the windowpane with a thump, overriding the grumbling hum of Michigan Avenue.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • It grumbles from time to time.

    Pompeii (2014)

  • Beyond the field, the cars and trucks grumbled their way along the highway.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • As they walked across the campus to the parking lot, her stomach grumbled.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Her stomach was grumbling more insistently now, and her fatigue was beginning to return.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Just what we don't need right now is a power outage," Sam grumbled.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • "If Christ returned to quarterback for the Redskins," the general grumbled, "they'd find a way to make it a national security priority."

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Cistercian monks grumbled if they were made to give up desserts for Lent.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • "We haven't had anything to eat since lunch, and my stomach is grumbling." "We can't stop," Esmi said.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • The vault grumbles to itself, withdrawing its locking bolts with a final KLONK!

    Fiction book (1991)

Synonyms

to moan
vsto grumble
177 1.0

To make a low, long sound to show pain, discomfort, or displeasure

is a general low continuous sound without emotional pain
to rumble
vsto grumble
  • Literature
84 2.5

To make a low, deep, continuous sound

is lower and more indistinct rather than strongly resonant
to growl
vsto grumble
76 2.2

To make a low, deep sound to warn or show anger

is a neutral continuous sound not an angry or warning signal
to murmur
vsto grumble
11 4.2

To speak in a low, quiet voice, often to complain or say something softly

is a nonverbal low continuous sound rather than speech
to croak
vsto grumble
  • Informal
4 6.3

To make quiet complaining sounds under your breath

is a general low continuous sound not a voiced complaint
to grrrr
vsto grumble
9.9

To make a low growling sound to show anger or annoyance

is a neutral continuous indistinct sound not an animal anger signal

Antonyms

silence
660 2.0

A period with no sound or speech

Phrasal Verbs

to grumble about
6 4.1

To complain quietly about something you do not like

How Loud

to roar
98 1.0
to rumble
  • Literature
84 2.5
to grumble
7 3.7
to hum
49 1.0

Surface Forms

grumble infinitive
grumbled past
grumbled past participle
grumbling present participle
grumbles third person singular

Etymology

The verb grumble meaning a thing makes a low sound comes from the same sound word as rumble, so it describes making a 'low, continuous, often indistinct sound'. That's why machines, trains, or thunder can be said to grumble.