growl
/ˈɡɹaʊ̯l/noun, verb
growl is spelled G-R-O-W-L: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 24,170th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, growl means “A deep, rumbling, threatening sound made in the throat by an animal” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of growl is growls.
How many letters and syllables are in growl?
| Letters | 5: G-R-O-W-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 24,170th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is growl?
Growl appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 24,170th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce growl?
- US /ˈɡɹaʊ̯l/
- /ˈɡɹæʊ̯l/
- /ˈɡɹaːl/
Growl has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-growl.ogg, En-au-growl.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with growl?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as growl from its last stressed vowel (/aʊl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of growl
- growls plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- growling participle, present
- growled participle, past
- groil
- groul
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does growl mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A deep, rumbling, threatening sound made in the throat by an animal.
- 2
A similar sound made by a human.
- 3
The rumbling sound made by a human's hungry stomach.
- 4
An aggressive grumbling.
- 5
A low-pitched rumbling sound produced with a wind instrument.
- 6
Death growl
verb
- 1
To utter a deep guttural sound, as an angry animal; to give forth an angry, grumbling sound.
The dog growled at me as I walked past.
- 2
Of a wind instrument: to produce a low-pitched rumbling sound.
- 3
To send a user a message via the Growl software library.
- 4
To express (something) by growling.
The old man growled his displeasure at the postman.
- 5
To play a wind instrument in a way that produces a low-pitched rumbling sound.
- 6
To perform death growl vocals.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Growl in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | feulement, grognement , borborygme, gargouillement , grincement , bougonner |
| German | Knurren , Magenknurren , knurren |
| Portuguese | rosnado , ronco , rosnar |
| Spanish | rugido , gruñir |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does growl come from?
From Middle English groulen, grollen, gurlen (“of the bowels: to growl, rumble”), either possibly from Old French groler (variant of croler (“to be agitated, shake”)), grouler, grouller (“to growl, grumble”), from Frankish *grullen, *gruljan or from Old English gryllan, both from Proto-Germanic *gruljaną (“to make a sound; to growl, grumble, rumble”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to make a noise; to mumble, murmur; to rattle; to grind; to rub, stroke”), probably ultimately imitative. The word is cognate with Middle Dutch grollen (“to make a noise; to croak, grumble, murmur; to be angry”)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).