▪ I. gruntling, n.
(ˈgrʌntlɪŋ)
[f. grunt v. + -ling.]
A little grunter, a young pig.
| 1686 Bk. Boys & Girls 32 (Halliw.) But come, my gruntling, when thou art full fed, Forth to the butchers stall thou must be led. 1780 Gentl. Mag. Apr. 193/2 The good fruit for me, the mean for my slave, The worst you design my gruntlings shall have. 1823 Blackw. Mag. XIII. 90 The..gambols of a litter of sucking gruntlings. 1834 Beckford Italy II. 134 Calves, turkeys, and gruntlings, which had long been fattening..for this solemn occasion. |
▪ II. gruntling, vbl. n.
(ˈgrʌntlɪŋ)
[f. gruntle v. + -ing1.]
The action of the verb gruntle.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 327 He vttereth a voice like the gruntling of a Swine. 1611 Middleton Roaring Girl v. i. Wks. 1885 IV. 130 The gruntling of five hundred hogs coming from Rumford market. 1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 55 Sae what wi' gruntlin', what wi' squealin', The causey-stanes were maist set reelin'. 1824 Blackw. Mag. XVI. 89 Don't make a hoggish gruntling as you drink. 1834 Beckford Italy II. 173 After a deal of adulatory complimentation..for which they got nothing in return but rebuffs and gruntling. |
▪ III. gruntling, ppl. a.
(ˈgrʌntlɪŋ)
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
That gruntles.
| 15.. tr. Martial iii. lviii. 158 (MS.) The gruntling swine follow the house-wife's feete. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 156 The gruntling clamour or cry of hogs. 1679 Earl of Rochester Epigr. Ld. All-pride 12 in Roxb. Ballads (1883) IV. 567 So Swine for nasty meat to dunghills run, And toss their gruntling Snouts up when they've done. 1896 Crockett Grey Man xii. 86 Nothing loath to get away from gruntling horror on the hill-top. |