groan
part of speech
verb (groan, groans, groaned, groaning); noun (a groan, groans)
meaning for a pupil
1) To groan is to make a long, low sound because you are in pain, unhappy, bored or annoyed. tree →
2) A groan is that sound. tree →
3) Something heavy can groan when it makes a creaking sound, like an old floor or a table full of food. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories, characters groan when they hear bad news, a bad joke or homework announcements; it shows feeling without words. In first aid, a person groaning may be hurt and needs help. Phrases: groan with pain, groan in disappointment, let out a groan, a groaning table (lots of food).
examples
- The class groaned when the teacher gave extra homework. tree →
- He groaned and held his sore ankle. tree →
- Dad's joke was so bad that we all groaned. tree →
- The old wooden stairs groaned under our feet. tree →
- Let out a groan if you hate Mondays! tree →
- I heard a groan from under the bike and ran to help. tree →
- “Our last romp!” Mr. Darling groaned. tree →
note
Regular verb: groaned, groaning. Homophone: «grown» (past participle of grow) sounds the same — «I have grown taller» vs «I let out a groan». A groan is low and long; a moan is similar; a sigh is a breath out without much voice.
In the corpora
- That night she opens her banking app and groans: "The app says we've spent eighty dollars on takeaways this month."
- The boys groaned when they found out — and then had a brilliant afternoon on a racing game and a building game anyway.
- The class groaned so loudly the next classroom knocked on the wall.
- «Aw, it's a pure trek,» she groans; in Scotland «pure» can mean really.
- At Christmas dinner Uncle Mike says "Bulls hate red!" for the tenth year running, and half the family groans.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «groan» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.