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Crossword clues for groan

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
hoarse voice/whisper/groan etc
laugh/groan/cry etc aloud
▪ The pain made him cry aloud.
▪ She could have laughed aloud.
moaned and groaned
▪ He moaned and groaned all the way there.
▪ She groaned again and pushed a pillow over her head.
▪ He groaned again, but could watch no longer.
▪ What he saw there made him groan again.
▪ He despatched them and groaned again.
▪ She groaned aloud in pleasure when his kisses continued down to the swell of her bosom.
▪ As the high points of last night's blustering and boasting passed through her mind one by one, she groaned aloud.
▪ Her loins seemed to tear in protest, and she groaned aloud.
▪ And Madra there, also, he suddenly remembered, and groaned aloud as he thought of the complications ahead.
▪ Tom took a look at his face and groaned inwardly.
▪ Oh, no, no, why did I let him? she groaned inwardly.
▪ I groan inwardly at the prospect of a night playing Happy Families with a bunch of desk-jockeys and number-crunchers.
▪ What had she done? she groaned inwardly.
▪ Then in the next instant she groaned inwardly, cursing her wayward thoughts.
▪ Consider the following brief passage: Mary heard the alarm and groaned inwardly, pulling the covers over her head.
▪ She groaned inwardly, and felt the blush unfold.
▪ He groaned when he realised how far away it was.
▪ The groaning when they roll over.
▪ He would groan when he realised, afterwards, how he had raged at Maria Filippa.
▪ Mitchell groaned when he saw her old backpack, utilitarian relic of hippie days.
▪ A Weighty Decision Tired of your scales groaning when you weigh yourself every morning?
▪ He was moaning and groaning from the enormous weight of it.
▪ They rocked them back and forth until the hinges groaned with their weight.
▪ She heard Fen groan his own unbearable delight.
▪ Gabriel heard Lucie groan as he sank down.
▪ We heard Mike groaning as he swung himself into bed in the second bedroom.
▪ And, in spite of himself, he heard he was groaning quietly, like the men in the darkened room.
▪ The labouring engines could be heard groaning like a battery of tanks.
▪ Everyone groaned as Scott began to tell another one of his stupid jokes.
▪ The shelves groaned under the weight of hundreds of books.
▪ As usual, only Zack and Jane seemed in high spirits as everyone else groaned and complained.
▪ Bernard would lie awake for hours waging his nightly battle with carnality, slapping it down, groaning.
▪ Gabriel heard Lucie groan as he sank down.
▪ He wiped at his thighs with the sponge, the effort making him groan.
▪ The kids groaned and Mr Barraza grinned.
▪ To her intense disappointment, he groaned as one in pain, and dragged himself off her.
▪ She crawled out of bed, peered into the mirror, and gave a small groan.
▪ She gave an inner groan of despair.
▪ Her gaze slid round the unfamiliar room, then she suddenly gave a loud groan as everything slid back into place.
▪ Carew gave a little groan of exasperation.
▪ Alone, Kemp gave a tiny groan followed by a breathy laugh.
▪ We could hear the groan of their engines for so long that we thought more vehicles were approaching.
▪ The first thing he heard was the groan of traffic over the suspension bridge at Northwest Twelfth Avenue.
▪ She heard muffled groans from the corner of the room by the television.
▪ Over all these sounds were heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded and dying....
▪ The crowd let out a groan when the ball was dropped and the other team scored.
▪ Drinks in hand, the crowd around me erupted with groans of exasperation, the kind usually reserved for terrible puns.
▪ He didn't scream but she felt him tremble and he made a small, pathetic groan, like an angry puppy.
▪ Nor were the terrible creaks and groans so alarming now they could be identified.
▪ The headmaster went back to his chair and sank into it, with a groan.
▪ The stone walls of our cottage groan and shudder as if tired of battling with the centuries of wind.
▪ Though he, too, let out little groans now and then.
The Collaborative International Dictionary

Groan \Groan\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Groaned; p. pr. & vb. n. Groaning.] [OE. gronen, granen, granien, AS. gr?nian, fr. the root of grennian to grin. [root]35. See 2d Grin, and cf. Grunt.]


    For we . . . do groan, being burdened.
    --2 Cor. v. 4.

    He heard the groaning of the oak.
    --Sir W. Scott.

  2. To strive after earnestly, as with groans.

    Nothing but holy, pure, and clear, Or that which groaneth to be so.


Groan \Groan\, v. t. To affect by groans.


Groan \Groan\, n. A low, moaning sound; usually, a deep, mournful sound uttered in pain or great distress; sometimes, an expression of strong disapprobation; as, the remark was received with groans.

Such groans of roaring wind and rain.

The wretched animal heaved forth such groans.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary

Old English granian "to groan, murmur, lament," from Proto-Germanic *grain- (cognates: Old Norse grenja "to howl"), of imitative origin, or related to grin. Meaning "complain" is from early 13c., especially in Middle English phrase grutchen and gronen. Related: Groaned; groaning.




n. 1 A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief. 2 A low, guttural sound uttered in frustration or disapproval. vb. 1 To make a groan. 2 (context obsolete English) To strive after earnestly, as if with groans.

  1. n. an utterance expressing pain or disapproval [syn: moan]

  2. v. indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure; "The students groaned when the professor got out the exam booklets"; "The ancient door soughed when opened" [syn: moan, sough]


Groan may refer to:

  • Groan Tube, a prank toy
  • Groans of the Britons

Usage examples of "groan".


To prevent such a consummation, in conclusion, he urged the necessity of redressing the grievances, and of adopting some remedy to the deplorable distresses under which the Irish people were groaning.

The long Aenean stride readily matched wagons bumping and groaning over roadless wrinkled hills.


BY this time, the English Ambassage Extraordinary, three hundred strong, with its aching diplomacy and its groaning digestions, with its cliques, its amateurs, its professionals and with the Earl and Countess of Lennox, was already at Orleans, not much more than two hundred miles away.

The previous night, from the deck of the anchored Gull, they had heard terrifying, blood-chilling roars, rising and falling, then ending in a diminishing series of grunts and groans that sounded like the chorus of all the devils of hell.

Art thou an anchorite, good Theos, and wouldst thou have me scourge my flesh and groan, because the gods have given me youth and vigorous manhood?

The workmen, grimy with the black ashy soot of the tunnels and pits of the ruined house, groaned with effort as they hoisted the heavy crate up onto the table and let it fall with a massive thump.

Then remembering what had befallen him, and his head beating as though it would split asunder, he shut his eyes again, contriving with great effort to keep himself from groaning aloud, and wondering as to what sort of pirates these could be, who would first knock a man in the head so terrible a blow as that which he had suffered, and then take such care to fetch him back to life again, and to make him easy and comfortable.


And, as if wrung by some sudden pain, the sleeper turned heavily round, groaned audibly, and awoke.

All that mattered was that after a moment that seemed to last a year, the dragon sighed, heaved himself out of the wallow with a groan, ducking his head to avoid the canvas awning, and stepped up onto the stone verge.

What is the good of a man, Baas, who, when he thinks his girl is being given over to a devil, sits in a boat and groans and says that ancient laws must not be broken lest a curse should follow?

While this grateful creature kissed the hand of her kind benefactress, Fathom uttered a groan, began to stir in the bed, and with a languid voice called upon Elenor, who, instantly withdrawing the curtain, presented the whole company to his view.

He slapped the desk resoundingly with his open palm, and then, observing that Bibbs remained in the same impassive attitude, with his eyes still fixed upon the ceiling in a contemplation somewhat plaintive, Sheridan was impelled to groan.