Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Anatomy The crease or hollow at the junction of the inner part of each thigh with the trunk, together with the adjacent region and often including the external genitals.
  • noun Architecture The curved edge at the junction of two intersecting vaults.
  • noun A small jetty extending from a shore to protect a beach against erosion or to trap shifting sands.
  • transitive verb To provide or build with groins.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In architecture, to form into groins; construct in a system of groins.
  • noun Grumbling; pouting; discontent.
  • noun The snout of a swine; a snout; nose.
  • To grunt, as a pig; growl.
  • To murmur; grumble; sound rumblingly.
  • noun In anatomy, the fold or hollow of the body on either side of the belly where the thigh joins the trunk; the oblique depression between the abdominal and the femoral region; the inguinal region or inguen, corresponding to the axilla or armpit.
  • noun In architecture, the curved intersection or arris of simple vaults crossing each other at any angle.
  • noun A wooden breakwater or frame of woodwork constructed across a beach between low and high water to retain sand or mud thrown up by the tide, and to form a protection from the force of the waves to the land lying behind it. Also spelled, archaically, groyne.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete The snout of a swine.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To grunt to growl; to snarl; to murmur.
  • noun (Anat.) The line between the lower part of the abdomen and the thigh, or the region of this line; the inguen.
  • noun (Arch.) The projecting solid angle formed by the meeting of two vaults, growing more obtuse as it approaches the summit.
  • noun (Math.) The surface formed by two such vaults.
  • noun engraving A frame of woodwork across a beach to accumulate and retain shingle.
  • transitive verb (Arch.) To fashion into groins; to build with groins.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The fold or depression of the human body that separates the trunk from the legs.
  • noun The area adjoining this fold or depression.
  • noun architecture The projecting solid angle formed by the meeting of two vaults
  • noun euphemistic The genitals.
  • noun geometry The surface formed by two such vaults.
  • noun A structure projecting from a beach to change the pattern of erosion.
  • verb To deliver a blow to the genitals.
  • verb architecture To build with groins.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb build with groins
  • noun a protective structure of stone or concrete; extends from shore into the water to prevent a beach from washing away
  • noun a curved edge formed by two intersecting vaults
  • noun the crease at the junction of the inner part of the thigh with the trunk together with the adjacent region and often including the external genitals

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration (influenced by loin) of Middle English grinde, perhaps from Old English grynde, abyss, hollow.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From earlier grine, from Middle English grinde, grynde, from Old English grynde ("abyss") (perhaps also "depression, hollow"), probably related to Proto-Germanic *grunduz; see ground. Later altered under the influence of loin.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word groin.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Means "snout" in French.

    July 13, 2009