▪ I. grump, n.
(grʌmp)
[? Suggested by grunt, with ending imitative of an inarticulate exclamation of displeasure; cf. grumph v.]
† 1. humps and grumps: slights and snubs.
| 1727 De Foe Protest. Monast. 4 Under many Hardships and Restrictions, many Humps and Grumps. 1760 Gray Lett. Wks. 1884 III. 40 We attribute it to a miff about the garter, and some other humps and grumps that he has received. |
2. pl. The sulks; a fit of ill-humour.
| 1844 C. Ridley Let. 6 Oct. in Life & Lett. (1958) xiv. 173 Wells has ceased to be under the dominion of the grumps. 1868 L. M. Alcott Little Women (1871) iv. 41 Hannah had the grumps, for being up late. Never did suit her. 1873 W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 360 D. got into wretched grumps, but got out of them. |
3. A gruff, grumpy, or ill-humoured person. colloq.
| 1900 Eng. Dial. Dict., Grump (pl.), a surly person. 1947 P. Bennett Varmints 225 The grumps who secretly did a little charity. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. x. 186 In Fife ‘grump’ and ‘peenger’ apply more to people who are snivelling and fretful than openly sobbing. 1959 T. Griffith Waist-high Culture (1960) iii. 36, I called on an affectionate grump known throughout the journalism department as ‘Pa’ Kennedy. 1970 New Yorker 12 Sept. 39/1 Oh, you are the world's worst grump. |
▪ II. grump, v.
(grʌmp)
[Cf. prec. and glump v.]
intr. To sulk.
| 1875 Fenn Both Sides Mirror i, Instead of stopping grumping here at home. |