# growl

Pronunciation: say "GROWL" /ɡɹaʊl/

## Noun

1. A deep, rumbling, threatening sound that an animal makes in its throat.
   - Simple: A deep, angry sound that an animal makes in its throat.
   - _A deep growl rose from the lion as the hyenas circled._
   - _The bear's warning growls echoed through the campsite._
3. A deep, throaty sound made by a person, resembling the noise an angry animal makes.
   - Simple: A deep, angry sound that a person makes, like an animal's growl.
   - _A low growl of frustration escaped him as the meeting dragged on._
   - _Her growls of irritation made it clear she wanted to be left alone._
4. The rumbling sound made by a person's empty stomach when hungry.
   - Simple: The rumbling sound your stomach makes when you are hungry.
   - _A sudden growl from her stomach reminded her she had skipped breakfast._
   - _The growls of his empty stomach were impossible to ignore by noon._
6. A low, aggressive grumbling sound that expresses anger.
   - Simple: A low, grumbling sound that someone makes when angry.
   - _He met every order with a low growl of complaint._
   - _The workers responded with growls of protest when their break was canceled._
8. A deep, guttural, growling vocal technique used in death metal and related styles of music.
   - Simple: A deep, harsh, growling singing style used in heavy metal music.
   - _Her growl on the record sits somewhere between a roar and a rumble, pure extreme metal._
   - _The album's brutal growls are layered over blast beats and downtuned guitars._
9. In music, a deep, rumbling tone played on a wind instrument such as a trumpet or trombone.
   - Simple: A low, rumbling sound made on a horn or other wind instrument.
   - _The trombonist's growl gave the ballad a smoky, late-night feel._
   - _Duke Ellington's band was known for the growls of its brass section._

## Verb

2. To make a deep, throaty sound, as an angry animal does, or to give forth an angry, grumbling noise.
   - Simple: To make a deep, angry sound, the way an angry animal does.
   - _The guard dog growled low in its throat at the intruder._
   - _Big cats growl to warn rivals away from their territory._
5. To express something in a low, angry, growling voice.
   - Simple: To say something in a deep, angry voice.
   - _The old sailor growled a complaint about the weather._
   - _Coaches often growl instructions from the sidelines._
7. To sing using the deep, guttural, growling vocal style of extreme metal music.
   - Simple: To sing using a deep, harsh, growling voice, as in heavy metal music.
   - _The vocalist growls throughout the album's heaviest tracks._
   - _Few singers can growl for an entire set without losing their voice._
10. To give out a deep, rumbling tone, as a trombone or other wind instrument does.
   - Simple: When a wind instrument makes a low, rumbling sound.
   - _The trombone growled low beneath the singer's melody._
   - _Muted horns growl whenever the band slips into that smoky style._
11. To play a wind instrument in a way that makes it produce a low, rumbling sound.
   - Simple: To play a horn or other wind instrument so it makes a low, rumbling sound.
   - _The soloist growled his horn until the crowd roared._
   - _Veteran players growl their trumpets to get that classic jazz sound._
12. In computing, to send a notification to a user through the Growl software library.
   - Simple: To send someone a pop-up message using the Growl software.
   - _The script growls to let you know the backup has completed._
   - _Configure the tool to growl on every failed login attempt._

## Origin

From Middle English groulen, grollen, gurlen, originally used of the bowels rumbling. It possibly comes from Old French groler (a variant of croler, "to shake") or from a Germanic source going back to Proto-Germanic *gruljaną ("to make a sound, growl, rumble") and ultimately Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- ("to make a noise"), probably imitative in origin. It is related to Dutch grollen and German grollen ("to rumble; to be angry"). The noun comes from the verb.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/growl (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).