groan
verbEtymology 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.
1
To make a groan.
- We groaned at his awful jokes.
- The wooden table groaned under the weight of the banquet.
2 more examples
- My Lord of Hereford here whom you call King, / Is a foule traitour to proud Herefords King, / And if you crowne him let me propheſie, / The bloud of Engliſh ſhall manure the ground, / And future ages groane for this foule act, [...]1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
- Designed to accommodate 60,000 people per day in the 1960s, the main concourse, entrances and passageways around the station were by then positively groaning under the weight of more than 140,000 passengers every 24 hours.2020 July 29, Paul Stephen, “A new collaboration centred on New Street”, in Rail, page 54:
2
Figuratively To seemingly creak under the strain of being heavily laden.
- That night the table in the outer dining room was just groaning with good things.1943, H. Lorna Bingham, The Lost Tribe, Sydney: Winn and Co., page 14, column 1:
- Bookshelves groan under the bloated weight of tomes detailing Great Straight Marriages.1979 February 10, John Mitzel, “Crimes of Passion”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 28, page 13:
1 more example
- Whenever Ms. Rompoti’s curvy protagonist, an event planner named Sienna, was in a scene, the A.I. constantly referenced her weight, for example, noting that a chair groaned when she sat down.2026 February 8, Alexandra Alter, “The New Fabio Is Claude”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
3
Obsolete To strive after earnestly, as if with groans.
- Nothing but holy, pure, and clear, / Or that which groaneth to be so.[1633], George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC:
- Derived terms
- agroan, begroan, groaner, groanful, groanless, groansome, groan tube, groanworthy, groany