A dialectal word meaning to crunch, munch, or make a grinding sound with the teeth or jaws.
Possibly from grun (to grunt) plus crunch, or from Middle English grunch- related to crunching sounds. The -tch ending often appears in onomatopoetic words imitating crisp, crushing sounds.
Words ending in -tch often represent crunching or sudden sounds—crunch, scratch, match, catch—because that sharp 'tch' sound mimics the actual noise, which is why 'grunch' perfectly captures chewing!
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