# grouse

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɡɹaʊs/ · frequency rank #24,178

## Definitions
1. Any of various game birds of the subfamily Tetraoninae which inhabit temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere; specifically, the red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica) native to heather moorland on the British Isles.
2. The flesh or meat of this bird eaten as food.

## Etymology
Attested in the 1530s, as grows ("moorhen"), a plural used collectively.
The origin of the noun is unknown; the following derivations have been suggested:
* From Old French grue (“crane”) (modern French grue) or Medieval Latin gruta (“crane”), both from Latin grūs (“crane”).
* Borrowed from Celtic or a different Medieval Latin word.
* Imitative of the bird’s call.
The verb is derived from the noun.

## Easily confused with
- **grows** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grouse-vs-grows)
- **grove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grouse-vs-grove)
- **grout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grouse-vs-grout)
- **group** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/group-vs-grouse)
- **gross** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gross-vs-grouse)
- **goose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goose-vs-grouse)
- **gouge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gouge-vs-grouse)
- **grope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grope-vs-grouse)
- **ground** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ground-vs-grouse)
- **groups** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groups-vs-grouse)
- **groove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groove-vs-grouse)
- **grease** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grease-vs-grouse)
- **grosse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grosse-vs-grouse)
- **grasse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grasse-vs-grouse)
- **grouped** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grouped-vs-grouse)
- **grossed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grossed-vs-grouse)
- **groupie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groupie-vs-grouse)
- **grosser** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grosser-vs-grouse)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ggrouse`, `goruse`, `grosue`, `groues`, `grousse`, `grrouse`, `gruose`, `rgouse`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/grouse