Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use growl in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Growl means a deep, rumbling, threatening sound made in the throat by an animal. Example: “The dog growled at me as I walked past.”

Examples of growl by meaning

nounThe rumbling sound made by a human's hungry stomach.

  • Riding down the main thoroughfare, the growl of his stomach taints the soothing jazz playing on the radio.2004, Rique Johnson, chapter 2, in Whispers from a Troubled Heart, Largo, Md.: Strebor Books, →ISBN, page 21

nounAn aggressive grumbling.

  • It was one of my all-time favorite shows, the Captain an outrageous character who defied all bounds of middle-class taste with his Delta-blues growl and made-up language.2014, Billy Idol, “Sucking in the ’70s”, in Dancing with Myself, New York, N.Y.: Touchstone, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, part I (London), page...

verbTo utter a deep guttural sound, as an angry animal; to give forth an angry, grumbling sound.

  • The dog growled at me as I walked past.
  • April woke in darkness to the sound of Baron growling.2016, Ted Sanders, “April”, in The Harp and the Ravenvine (The Keepers; 2), New York, N.Y.: Harper, →ISBN

verbOf a wind instrument: to produce a low-pitched rumbling sound.

  • James "Bubber" Miley "used to growl all night long, playing gutbucket on his horn.2016, Henry Martin, Keith Waters, quoting Duke Ellington, “1920s Jazz in New York and Europe”, in Jazz: The First 100 Years, 3rd enhanced...

verbTo express (something) by growling.

  • The old man growled his displeasure at the postman.

More sentences with growl

  • When the dog got angry, his hackles rose and he growled.From the entry hackle
  • Your mutant brother just growled at me again!From the entry mutant
  • A quick growl scared off the mouse.From the entry scare off
  • "Why don't we stop horsing and get down to cases, Lou?" Mike Davey growled.2019, Frank Kane, Red Hot Ice: A Johnny Liddell Mystery, page 117. From the entry horse
  • “Growl you may, but go you must,” Lewrie laughed, clapping him on the shoulder in parting.2018, Dewey Lambdin, The Gun Ketch. From the entry Captain's Cloak
  • She had growled at the giant stego, albeit from a safe distance.2017, Seth Chambers, Her Rule Would Always Last, →ISBN, page 44. From the entry stego
  • We growled as short sica daggers flashed from the folds of many robes.2016 August 29, Kevin Logan, Actual Love: A Novel Inspired By True Events, Lulu Press, Inc, →ISBN. From the entry sica
  • “Gonna make you swash my buckle later, m'lady,” he growled against her throat.2016, Suzanne Halliday, Unforgettable. From the entry swash someone's buckle
  • He growled at two of his mick henchboys, who pinned poor Austin's face to the wall.2014, Paul Monette, Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story. From the entry henchboy
  • He throttles down, and the engines' roar quiets to a diesely growl.2010, Carl Safina, Song for the Blue Ocean, →ISBN. From the entry diesely
  • "Not like that," Snap growled, raising her four fists, swishing her thagomizer around threateningly.2008 September 17, L. E. Simmons, The Lady of Gold (SnapDragon Adventures 1), 1st edition, Lulu.com, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 135. From the entry thagomizer
  • "This is embarrassing," he growled through clenched teeth as he passed the first time.2006, Steve Lawhead, The Silver Hand, page 20. From the entry rightwise
  • I brewed coffee black as a dog, and made it growl and bark with cognac.1971, Anthony Burgess, M/F, page 61. From the entry thermoi
  • "Christ on a bike," Joan growled, brushing past Mary and into her room.1937, Sonya Schulberg, They Cried a Little, page 66. From the entry Christ on a bike
  • The boy who was playing glowered at the intruder and growled.1935, Harry Carr, “So This is Los Angeles”, in Los Angeles, City of Dreams, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton-Century Company…. From the entry scram
  • The bear Sackerson growls in the pit near it, Paris garden.1922 February 2, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC. From the entry groundling
  • Towards Larry O'Rourke, in shirtsleeves in his doorway, he growled unamiably.1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 10: Wandering Rocks]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey]…. From the entry unamiably
  • Instead, the tiger looked around, and gave a purr, and then a growl.1918, Sarath Kumar Ghosh, The wonders of the jungle - Volume 2, page 113. From the entry purr
  • Here he again approached Teeka only to be again greeted with bared fangs and menacing growls.1916, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 3, in Jungle Tales of Tarzan, A. C. McClurg. From the entry placate
  • With bared fangs and bristling necks they advanced slowly toward him, with deep-throated, ominous growls.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 196. From the entry bull
  • "'Life?' Do you call this 'life,' you barracks lawyer?" he growled in his bronzed Adam's apple.1912 September, Clarence L. Cullen, “The Hangman and Pedro Salazar”, in Munsey's Magazine, volume XLVII, number 6, page 944, column 1. From the entry barracks lawyer
  • I give him an anti-inflammatory in a pill pocket — and praised sweet Rev for not taking Brio's growl personally.2024, Zazie Todd, Bark!: The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, Or Reactive Dog. From the entry pill pocket
  • As you do so, growl the word Algiz.2020, Denny Sargent, Werewolf Magick: Authentic Practical Lycanthropy, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN. From the entry Algiz
  • From the mouth it yawned emitting a foul bear-like growl.probably 2018, Rogue Planet Press, Lovecraftiana: Halloween 2018, page 33. From the entry octopodic
  • 'You talk heresy, smoothskin,' the barbarian growled.2018, Michael Moorcock, Barbarians of Mars, →ISBN, page 43. From the entry smoothskin
  • "One of those infernal aerostations?” he growled.2016, Sandra Heath, The Wrong Miss Richmond. From the entry aerostation
  • Astonishes me by saying, with all the old force, in his old, frightening growl: “This is a bum's rush!”2013, Chris Crowley, Jennifer Sacheck, Thinner This Year: A Younger Next Year Book. From the entry bum's rush
  • Mitsuharu pressed a finger to his earbug, jumping channels until the hissing growl of the enemy flooded in, making him wince.2011, Thomas Harlan, Land of the Dead, page 349. From the entry earbug
  • Perhaps her Little Monsters' collective growl woke the academy up.2010 July 8, Kevin Amorim, “Did Gaga help spur a monster Grammy rule change?”, in Newsday. From the entry little monster
  • It growled like something angry, died away.2004, Deborah Bedford, If I Had You. From the entry windmill
  • When I ask for a kissie, I often get a growl-kissie - she growls while licking my cheek.2001 July 7, FurPaw, “Rhodesian Ridgeback.”, in rec.pets.dogs.behavior (Usenet), archived from the original on 04 Dec 2025. From the entry kissie
  • They heard the Green Fork before they saw it, an endless susurrus, like the growl of some great beast.2000 August 8, George R[aymond] R[ichard] Martin, “”, in A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire; 3), London: Voyager, →ISBN, page 555. From the entry susurrus
  • In the distance there was a growl of thunder.2000, Catherine Fox, chapter 9, in Love for the Lost, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 101. From the entry word-process
  • Domi made a feral sound, half growl and half chuckle.1998 March, James Axler [pseudonym; Mark Ellis], Omega Path (Outlanders; 4), Don Mills, Ont.: Gold Eagle Books, Worldwide Library, page 190. From the entry snow leopardess

Meaning of growl

  1. noun A deep, rumbling, threatening sound made in the throat by an animal.
  2. noun A similar sound made by a human.
  3. noun The rumbling sound made by a human's hungry stomach.

Full definition of growl

Questions about growl in a sentence

How do you use growl in a sentence?
Growl is used as a noun and verb. For example: “The dog growled at me as I walked past.”
What is a short sentence with growl?
“"One of those infernal aerostations?” he growled.”
What does growl mean?
Growl means a deep, rumbling, threatening sound made in the throat by an animal.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: growl (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use growl in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/growl. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.