low, rumbling sounds made by animals as a warning or threat; to make such sounds.
From Middle English 'growen,' likely from Old Norse 'grúla' meaning to shudder or from imitative roots. The word describes a sound that can come from animals or even machines.
Growling is older than human language—wolves, dogs, bears, and big cats all growl to warn rivals before fighting, so when humans adopted the word 'growl' for angry speech, we were borrowing vocabulary directly from the animal kingdom.
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