- 1[intransitive, transitive] to complain about someone or something in a bad-tempered way grumble (at/to somebody) (about/at somebody/something) She's always grumbling to me about how badly they treat her at work. + speech “I'll just have to do it myself,” he grumbled. grumble that… They kept grumbling that they were cold. Thesauruscomplain
- protest
- object
- grumble
- whine
- complain to say that you are annoyed, unhappy, or not satisfied about someone or something:I'm going to complain to the manager about this.
- protest to say or do something to show that you disagree with or disapprove of something, especially publicly; to give something as a reason for protesting:Students took to the streets to protest (against) the decision.
- object to say that you disagree with or disapprove of something; to give something as a reason for objecting:Unless you object, we'll postpone the meeting till next week. He objected to being treated like a child.
- grumble (somewhat informal, disapproving) to complain about someone or something in a bad-tempered way:They kept grumbling about the cold.
- whine (somewhat informal, disapproving) to complain in an annoying, crying voice:Stop whining! What is he whining about now? Whine is often used to talk about the way that young children complain.
- to complain/protest/grumble/whine about something
- to complain/protest/object/grumble/whine to somebody
- to complain/protest/object/grumble/whine that…
- 2[intransitive] to make a deep continuous sound synonym rumble Thunder grumbled in the distance.
grumble
verbNAmE//ˈɡrʌmbl//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they grumble he / she / it grumbles
past simple grumbled
-ing form grumbling
NAmE//ˈɡrʌmblər//
nounSee grumble in the Oxford Advanced Learner's DictionaryCheck pronunciation: grumble