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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

grouse.

Any of various game birds of the subfamily Tetraoninae which inhabit temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere; specifically, the red grouse (Lagopus scotica) native to heather moorland on the British Isles.

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ɡɹaʊs/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ɡræɔs/Australia/ɡræus/New-Zealand
  1. Any of various game birds of the subfamily Tetraoninae which inhabit temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere; specifically, the red grouse (Lagopus scotica) native to heather moorland on the British Isles.

    countable
  2. The flesh or meat of this bird eaten as food.

    uncountable
Where this word comes from

Attested in the 1530s, as grows ("moorhen"), a plural used collectively. The origin of the noun is unknown; the following derivations have been suggested: * From Old French grue (“crane”) (modern French grue) or Medieval Latin gruta (“crane”), both from Latin grūs (“crane”). * Borrowed from Celtic or a different Medieval Latin word. * Imitative of the bird’s call. The verb is derived from the noun.

verb/ɡɹaʊs/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ɡræɔs/Australia/ɡræus/New-Zealand
  1. To hunt or shoot grouse.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

Attested in the 1530s, as grows ("moorhen"), a plural used collectively. The origin of the noun is unknown; the following derivations have been suggested: * From Old French grue (“crane”) (modern French grue) or Medieval Latin gruta (“crane”), both from Latin grūs (“crane”). * Borrowed from Celtic or a different Medieval Latin word. * Imitative of the bird’s call. The verb is derived from the noun.

verb/ɡɹaʊs/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ɡræɔs/Australia/ɡræus/New-Zealand
  1. To complain or grumble.

    informal · intransitive
Where this word comes from

The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly borrowed from Norman groucier, from Old French groucier, grousser (“to grumble, murmur”) [and other forms] (whence grutch (“to complain; to murmur”) and grouch). The further etymology is unknown, but it may be derived from Frankish *grōtijan (“to make cry, scold, rebuke”) or of onomatopoeic origin. The noun is derived from the verb.

noun/ɡɹaʊs/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ɡræɔs/Australia/ɡræus/New-Zealand
  1. A cause for complaint; a grumble.

    informal
Where this word comes from

The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly borrowed from Norman groucier, from Old French groucier, grousser (“to grumble, murmur”) [and other forms] (whence grutch (“to complain; to murmur”) and grouch). The further etymology is unknown, but it may be derived from Frankish *grōtijan (“to make cry, scold, rebuke”) or of onomatopoeic origin. The noun is derived from the verb.

adj/ɡɹaʊs/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ɡræɔs/Australia/ɡræus/New-Zealand
  1. Excellent.

    Australia · New-Zealand · slang
    I had a grouse day.
    That food was grouse.
Where this word comes from

Uncertain; possibly from British dialectal groosh (“excellent, very good”) (Lothian (Scotland)), grosh (northeast Lancashire) and groshy (“having thriving vegetation; juicy and tender; of weather: good for vegetation, rainy”) (Lancashire, Yorkshire), grushie (“having thriving vegetation”) (Scotland); from Scots groosh (“excellent, very good”) (Lothian, obsolete), grush (obsolete), grushie, grushy (“growing healthily or lushly; excellent, very good”) (both archaic), from gross (“lacking refinement, coarse; fat; large”) + -ie (suffix meaning ‘rather, somewhat’).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.