grunt
(redirected from a grunt)grunt
1. slang One who is servile, often due to lacking power or prestige in a particular setting. Get one of those grunts to do all this filing for you.
2. slang A common soldier, typically of the infantry. Come on, grunts, get in formation!
3. slang A wrestler. I never expected my son to grow up to be some grunt in a wrestling ring.
4. slang A diligent, industrious student. I'm confident she'll get an A in this class—she's one of the grunts.
5. slang A burp. My goodness, Tommy, that was a loud grunt!
grunt level
The most basic level or form of something. Often hyphenated and used as a modifier before a noun. Have you developed more complex software than this? I'm sorry, but we'll need to see better than the grunt level you've shown us so far. I don't want to be some grunt-level intern—I want to do more than fetch people coffee!
grunt out
To say something in a labored or brusque manner. A noun or pronoun can be used between "grunt" and "out." Luckily, the patient managed to grunt out her symptoms before collapsing. The boss grunted her coffee order out, and I sent my intern to fetch it.
grunt work
Work that is menial and often tedious. Get one of those interns to do this grunt work—that's what they're here for!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
grunt something out
to say something with a snort or grunt. Jane grunted a command out to someone. She grunted out a curt command and the gate opened.
grunt work
Fig. work that is menial and thankless. During the summer, I earned money doing grunt work. I did all of the grunt work on the project, but my boss got all of the credit.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
grunt
(grənt)1. n. an infantry soldier. (Military. From the gutteral sound made by a pig, and anyone doing very heavy labor.) Get those grunts out on the field at sunrise!
2. n. a low-ranking or subservient person. (Someone who is likely to utter a grunt because of the discomforts of menial labor.) Let’s hire a grunt to do this kind of work.
3. n. a belch. Does that grunt mean you like my cooking?
4. n. a hardworking student. The grunts got Bs on the test. It was that hard!
5. n. a wrestler. (Possibly in reference to a grunting pig.) Two big grunts wearing outlandish costumes performed for the television cameras.
grunt work
and shit work n. hard, menial labor; tedious work. (Work that a lesser person ought to be doing.) Who is supposed to do the grunt work around here? Not me! Why am I always doing the shit work?
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.