Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun One, such as a dog, that growls.
- noun A small iceberg.
- noun Electricity An electromagnetic device with two poles, used for magnetizing, demagnetizing, and finding short-circuited coils.
- noun Informal A pail or other container used for carrying beer, especially a half-gallon or gallon glass jug with a gasket or screw cap.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One who growls.
- noun A certain fish: same as
grunt , 2. - noun A four-wheeled cab.
- noun A vessel, as a pitcher, jug, pail, or can, brought by a customer for beer.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One who growls.
- noun (Zoöl.), Local The large-mouthed black bass.
- noun Slang, Eng. A four-wheeled cab.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A person, creature or thing that
growls . - noun historical, slang A
cab with four wheels. - noun A small
iceberg orice floe which is barely visible over the surface of the water. - noun informal A kind of
jug used to carrybeer . - noun dialect A Yorkshire term for a pork pie.
- noun UK, slang The
vulva .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a speaker whose voice sounds like a growl
- noun a small iceberg or ice floe just large enough to be hazardous for shipping
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word growler.
Examples
-
BTW the growler is the only call that has consistently worked for me.
-
BTW the growler is the only call that has consistently worked for me.
-
Hunter said a vessel off the Cape west coast in February 2002 reported a "growler" - the remains of an iceberg - less than five metres long with freeboard (height above water level) below one metre.
-
A growler was a metal pail, its inside often smeared with lard.
LAST CALL DANIEL OKRENT 2010
-
A growler is an iceberg that sits just below the surface of the water.
True Spirit Jessica Watson 2010
-
A growler was a metal pail, its inside often smeared with lard.
LAST CALL DANIEL OKRENT 2010
-
The captain wanted to maroon the growler, that is, to place him on an island with some provisions and sail away.
The Story of Paul Boyton Voyages on All the Great Rivers of the World Paul Boyton 1881
-
The upside to having a growler is the beer is fresher than if it was bottled, and you get a large quantity of beer (about five pints, depending on the size of the growler) for much cheaper than if you had bought five pints individually at a bar.
Blog updates 2009
-
Has anyone else had success with the buck "growler" or buck "roar" type grunt call?
-
Has anyone else had success with the buck "growler" or buck "roar" type grunt call?
burntsox commented on the word growler
An Australian friend giggled when this came up in a conversation. Apparently it's slang for cunnilingus there, but I never found out why she was giggling! ;)
December 21, 2007
bilby commented on the word growler
Never heard it. Obviously I don't get (give?) enough.
December 21, 2007
mollusque commented on the word growler
Also a vessel for fetching beer, a small iceberg, and a clarence.
December 21, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word growler
Mollusque, I must have missed this page four months ago. I just read the following in a book, and flagged this word as having a meaning I was unaware of:
"A rough, kindly old laboring man was this uncle who sat in his snug parlor in his shirt sleeves during our stay, sent one of the children to the corner for a growler of beer, and told us bluntly we were idiots to think of shipping on a whaling voyage."
--Walter Noble Burns, A Year with a Whaler, 4
April 28, 2008
gangerh commented on the word growler
Bon Voyage, c_b.
April 28, 2008
reesetee commented on the word growler
Oh yes--one of the many microbreweries in my area will gladly send you home with a growler of beer, if you're so inclined. :-)
April 28, 2008
yarb commented on the word growler
Slang for a bottom burp where I come from.
June 5, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word growler
"Every now and then a 'viper' or 'growler'—a whitewater curler on top of a wave that pops the bow with the speed of a striking snake—would hit the bow. To give the crew warning, Andy, who could see clearly over the bow into the oncoming seas, shouted over the loudhailer, 'Move! Watch out! Watch out!' And the crew ducked and held on."
—Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand with Malcolm MacPherson, Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs,
June 22, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word growler
Another usage, as a horse-drawn conveyance, on barouche.
October 22, 2008
reesetee commented on the word growler
See also clarence.
October 22, 2008
hernesheir commented on the word growler
It's a fish.
January 2, 2012
vendingmachine commented on the word growler
A growler is a small iceberg that only has less than 3.3 feet of ice showing above the water, according to the National Snow & Ice Data Center.
June 29, 2022