gruntle

English

Pronunciation

  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Etymology 1

From grunt +‎ -le (early modern English frequentative suffix).

Verb

gruntle (third-person singular simple present gruntles, present participle gruntling, simple past and past participle gruntled)

  1. (obsolete) To utter small, low grunts.
  2. (obsolete) To complain; to grumble
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From grunt +‎ -le (diminutive suffix).

Noun

gruntle (plural gruntles)

  1. A grunting sound.
  2. A snort.

Etymology 3

Back-formation from disgruntled.

Verb

gruntle (third-person singular simple present gruntles, present participle gruntling, simple past and past participle gruntled)

  1. (humorous) To humour; to induce the opposite effect of causing a person to become disgruntled.
    Synonyms: humour, (humorous) regruntle
Usage notes

To gruntle is not in normal usage. It has gained a certain currency amongst information security specialists to describe a process whereby the negative feelings of a disgruntled user might be reduced, or positive feelings induced.

References