How to Use growl in a Sentence

growl

1 of 2 verb
Definition of growlnext
Synonyms for growlnext
  • Maybe you’ve been surprised by the fear that’s growled and snarled from the back of your head.
    — Jenny Sharaf, The Cut, 25 June 2018
  • The dog began to growl at Hadley as the rescuer drew near.
    — Cathy Free, Washington Post, 18 Jan. 2024
  • Turn a crank and the man groaned and waved one arm over his mouth while the animal growled.
    — Ron Charles, Washington Post, 6 June 2023
  • Don and Jan Schultz were fast asleep in their New Iberia home when their dog began to growl.
    — Kelsey Mulvey, House Beautiful, 6 July 2023
  • There was a far-off purring or growling noise on the horizon, with what looks to be a dark cloud.
    — New York Times, 28 Mar. 2018
  • Beau growled at the newcomer, and for a moment, my heart was in my throat.
    — Doree Shafrir, Vox, 9 July 2019
  • Go ahead and make your ringtone the audio of Sam Heughan growling that last bit.
    — Joanna Robinson, HWD, 11 Apr. 2018
  • That solved the problem of my growling stomach, but the headaches and spacey feeling were still there.
    — Ashley Edwards Walker, Good Housekeeping, 2 Mar. 2018
  • And not just those who came because their stomachs growled.
    — John Archibald | Jarchibald@al.com, al, 2 Feb. 2020
  • Shirley-Girl ignores her mostly, but has growled and played many times.
    — cleveland.com, 22 Aug. 2019
  • When the man took out a knife, appearing to attempt to cut one of the leashes, Eli growled and the man stabbed the dog, Cornwell said.
    — Nicki Brown, CNN, 19 June 2023
  • Two, in kingly red velour robes across their backs, growled at each other.
    — Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 6 May 2023
  • There’s the simple fact that your growling, crampy stomach can wake you up.
    — Nina Bahadur, SELF, 11 Aug. 2018
  • Suddenly, the camera pans to show one of the bears charging toward the group of tourists who, taking the lead of the guide, start to growl and yell.
    — Lorenzo Reyes, USA TODAY, 27 June 2023
  • Just steps away from the dog in the garage, a second barked and growled through the open window of a barren second floor room next door to the Strauther home.
    — Kat Stafford, Detroit Free Press, 28 Aug. 2019
  • Sensing the commotion and chaos, Aries began to hiss and growl.
    — Brett Steenbarger, Forbes, 20 May 2021
  • Watch the video — by the last verse, he’s gone full Alice, with the growling vocals that make the records and performances so great.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, azcentral, 2 Apr. 2018
  • This isn't a show with riffs that get into your bones or growls that stir your soul or any of those old rock cliches.
    — Andrew Dansby, Houston Chronicle, 29 Apr. 2018
  • Why growl at Midge’s icebox parenting, which the show sees as adorable?
    — Anthony Lan, The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2021
  • The clip begins with the bears growling and roaring at each other, while standing in a ditch.
    — Robyn Merrett, PEOPLE.com, 24 Sep. 2019
  • The bears growl and grunt at each other while using their jaws and paws as weapons to batter each other.
    — Sage Marshall, Field & Stream, 27 Feb. 2023
  • Christmas morning is a treat for the ears, almost enough to drown out the growling bellies.
    — Paul Stephen, ExpressNews.com, 18 Dec. 2019
  • Neither will support dogs that growl at, jump on or try to bite other fliers.
    — Joe Marusak, charlotteobserver, 14 May 2018
  • Ribeiro made a growling face while Maksim made a zombie face.
    — Kimberlee Speakman, Peoplemag, 24 Nov. 2023
  • Krypto had always been the sweetest of all the Fisher-Paulsons, the one of us guaranteed not to bark or growl back.
    — Kevin Fisher-Paulson, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Jan. 2018
  • The face of a growling panther, a cross, a small Nike swoosh and other images mark his left forearm.
    — Daniel Borunda, USA TODAY, 22 Jan. 2020
  • One bear-like creature — very much not your average bear — growls with the screams of its recent prey.
    — Jake Coyle, Detroit Free Press, 22 Feb. 2018
  • Others emphasized the sound, likening it to a kind of growling or low roar.
    — Martin Weil, Washington Post, 2 Jan. 2024
  • My stomach felt empty, every growling pang a sign that my body was mourning the loss of carrying another human, and longed to be filled again.
    — Hetty Lui McKinnon, Bon Appétit, 19 Feb. 2024
  • Colman Domingo growls appealingly as some sort of crime boss, but who is his character?
    — Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2024
Advertisement

growl

2 of 2 noun
  • Now the man says, in his soft growl, The front wheel’s stuck in mud.
    — Rebecca Curtis, The New Yorker, 9 Nov. 2020
  • The first growl had come from behind us, at the end of the beach.
    — Mariana Enriquez, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2020
  • The inked fighter with the nasty growl is in no mood to die.
    — Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2024
  • The bear let out a growl and tore off into the thick brush.
    — Tyler Freel, Outdoor Life, 17 Nov. 2020
  • Does the thought of a swamp rat make your stomach growl?
    — Marisa Sloan, Discover Magazine, 15 Oct. 2021
  • The flat-six fires with a gruff growl, then settles to a breathy idle.
    — Tim Pitt, Robb Report, 18 Mar. 2021
  • The boar announced its presence with a growl and charged the two men through the brush.
    — Cameron Evans, Outdoor Life, 6 July 2023
  • His desire to hug and kiss the dog is sometimes met with a growl.
    — Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 27 Nov. 2020
  • This is about the growl around the dinner table and the running over the rooftops, screaming.
    — Kathryn Shattuck, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2021
  • Drive it hard, though, and plenty of flat-four growl can still be heard through the firewall.
    — Mike Sutton, Car and Driver, 5 Dec. 2022
  • Once the weird burning smell from the room’s heater went away, I was lulled to sleep by its gentle growl.
    — Crystal Paul, The Seattle Times, 7 Aug. 2018
  • The answer wasn’t so much a word as a growl and maybe a gallon of green, sticky vomit.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 7 Aug. 2023
  • Then and now, there is no lid for hip hop’s sound, no cage for its platinum growl.
    — Jason Parham, WIRED, 7 Aug. 2023
  • Thick carpeting muffles the low growl of the engine and the tireless smacking of the waves on the hull.
    — Ian Urbina, The Atlantic, 6 May 2021
  • Kate could sing a ballad but also whoop it up and toss off a throaty growl.
    — David Browne, Rolling Stone, 1 Apr. 2021
  • Then, suddenly, a solid sound filled the curve of the street, a deep growl that became a roar.
    — Bruce Dale, National Geographic, 17 Apr. 2019
  • To reduce inflation, the Fed must show its teeth and growl.
    — Alan S. Blinder, WSJ, 30 Oct. 2022
  • The voice—more like a growl piped in from a rough night in 1976—belonged to the filmmaker Paul Schrader.
    — Michael Schulma, The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2021
  • There’s no subwoofer, and two speakers can’t reach that low-end growl on their own.
    — Chris Welch, The Verge, 29 Nov. 2018
  • Even better, the unique, deeper growl of the 1100 sounds just like what you’d dream this metal beast would sound like.
    — Fortune, 27 June 2018
  • The growl of a throat-clear, sounding almost gratified, came down the line.
    — Colin Barrett, The New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2021
  • There’s the churning of sediment, the hums, grunts and growls of fishes and turtles.
    — Shreya Dasgupta, Quartz India, 21 Nov. 2019
  • At his feet is the lion, sleek, alert, tail curled like a scimitar, mouth opened wide in a growl.
    — New York Times, 11 July 2019
  • Their distinctive calls are a mixture of barks, growls and grunts.
    — Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Nov. 2023
  • And one of the growls that sounds like me is actually Rosalía.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 5 Nov. 2023
  • Pulling away does nothing but elicit a snorting growl and a tighter clamp.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 25 June 2018
  • A day or two later, the engines eased to a simmering growl.
    — David W. Brown, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2022
  • The engine note dropped an octave to a growl, and traction control turned off.
    — cleveland, 7 Jan. 2023
  • Shiv delivers one to the press through a low monotone, almost a growl.
    — Lauren Puckett-Pope, ELLE, 11 Apr. 2023
  • Over the Cat’s growl, Switalski asked Cahill to stick a willow here, to loosen the soil there, to leave this sapling but uproot that one.
    — Ben Goldfarb, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'growl.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: