groan

noun

1. 1

   A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief.

   let out a groan

2. 2

   A low, guttural sound uttered in frustration, disapproval, or ecstasy.

3. 3

   A low creaking sound from applied pressure or weight.

verb

1. 1

   To make a groan.

   We groaned at his awful jokes.

   The wooden table groaned under the weight of the banquet.

   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, [...]

   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.

2. 2

   figurativeTo seemingly creak under the strain of being heavily laden.

   That night the table in the outer dining room was just groaning with good things.

   Bookshelves groan under the bloated weight of tomes detailing Great Straight Marriages.

   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.

3. 3

   obsoleteTo strive after earnestly, as if with groans.

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

Forms

plural

groans

past tense

groaned

past participle

groaned

present participle

groaning

third person singular

groans