Definition of groan verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

groan

verb

/ɡrəʊn/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they groan	/ɡrəʊn/ /ɡrəʊn/
he / she / it groans	/ɡrəʊnz/ /ɡrəʊnz/
past simple groaned	/ɡrəʊnd/ /ɡrəʊnd/
past participle groaned	/ɡrəʊnd/ /ɡrəʊnd/
-ing form groaning	/ˈɡrəʊnɪŋ/ /ˈɡrəʊnɪŋ/

[intransitive, transitive] to make a long deep sound because you are annoyed, upset or in pain, or with pleasure synonym moan
- He lay on the floor groaning.
- groan with something to groan with pain/pleasure
- groan at something We all groaned at his terrible jokes.
- + speech ‘It's a complete mess!’ she groaned.
- ‘Don’t move me,’ he groaned.
Homophones groan | grown
groan grown

/ɡrəʊn/

/ɡrəʊn/
- groan verb
  The awful jokes made us all groan.
- groan noun
  He let out a groan of pain.
- grown (past participle of grow)
  The business has grown hugely in the last ten years.
- grown adjective
  Although he's a grown man, he'll always be our little boy.
Extra Examples
- He groaned at the pain.
- Some of the patients were groaning with pain.
- He groaned inwardly at the thought of spending another day in that place.
- She groaned out loud in protest.
- She tried to get up and groaned with pain.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- loudly
- quietly
- softly
- …
preposition
- in
- with
- at
- …
phrases
- moan and groan
See full entry
[intransitive, transitive] to complain about something, especially in an annoying way synonym grumble (1)
- groan about something They were all moaning and groaning about the amount of work they had.
- + speech ‘It's not fair!’ she groaned.
[intransitive] to make a sound like a person groaning synonym moan
- The trees creaked and groaned in the wind.