groan

Meanings

1. A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief.
2. A low, guttural sound uttered in frustration, disapproval, or ecstasy.
3. A low creaking sound from applied pressure or weight.

1. To make a groan.
2. To seemingly creak under the strain of being heavily laden.
3. To strive after earnestly, as if with groans.

Etymology

From Middle English gronen, granen, from Old English grānian (“to groan; lament; murmur”), from Proto-West Germanic *grainōn, from Proto-Germanic *grainōną (“to howl; weep”), from Proto-Germanic *grīnaną (“to whine; howl; whimper”). Cognate with Scots grain (“to cry, scream”), Dutch grijnen, grienen (“to cry; sob; blubber”), German Low German grienen (“to whimper; mewl”), German greinen (“to whine; whimper”), Swedish grina (“to howl; weep; laugh”). The noun is from Middle English gron, grone, from the verb.