growling

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of growl.

   The engine was growling under the strain of the steep climb.

   Growling low in its throat, the wolf held its ground against the strangers.

   Note

   One spelling does two grammatical jobs. It is the -ing of the progressive (the dog was growling) and the verbal noun (growling never scared anyone). Growl works both with and without an object, so the participle can stand alone or carry one: growling a warning, growling the low notes. The musical uses are the verb behind the jazz technique, and metal singers' death-growl vocals are growling too.

   He stood in the doorway, growling a warning at the strangers.

   She kept growling the low notes until the whole band joined in.

2. 2
   adjective

   Producing a low, rumbling, throaty sound of the kind a hostile animal makes.

   A growling stomach interrupted the quiet of the morning meeting.

   The growling engine warned us that the brakes were about to fail.

   Similarrumbling, grumbling, snarling

3. 3
   noununcountable

   A drawn-out, continuous run of growls or low, guttural noises.

   The growling of distant thunder rolled across the valley for several minutes.

   A steady growling rose from the crowd as the referee waved off the goal.

   Similarrumbling, grumbling, rumble

4. 4
   noununcountable

   A playing technique that creates a low-pitched, rough, rumbling sound on a wind instrument.

   His use of growling gave the brass section a dirty, vocal quality.

   Growling, paired with a plunger mute, defined the early Ellington trumpet sound.

   Note

   Jazz players use this name for a deliberately rough tone. The performer hums or sings into the instrument while blowing, so a low, rasping buzz rides on top of the played note and the horn takes on the grain of a rough human voice. In this sense the word names a method rather than a noise. A player uses growling the way they use vibrato, as a color added to the line.

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