gnarl
gnarl Lexical Profile
gnarl Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A rough, twisted knot, protuberance, or swelling on the trunk or branch of a tree.
"The carpenter carefully sanded around the deep gnarl in the aged oak plank."
An angry growl, snarl, or low grumbling sound.
"A low gnarl from the guard dog warned the stranger to stay back from the gate."
• verb
To twist, bend, or contort into a knotted, rugged, or distorted shape.
"Decades of harsh coastal winds had begun to gnarl the trunks of the cliffside pines."
To growl, snarl, or murmur angrily (especially of a dog or storm).
"The hound began to gnarl fiercely at the sound of footsteps outside the cabin."
• Rhymes for gnarl
Word Origin & Etymology
In its botanical sense, 'gnarl' is a 19th-century back-formation from the adjective 'gnarled', itself a variant of Middle English 'knarre' meaning a rugged rock or knot in wood. The sense meaning 'to snarl or growl' arose independently in the 16th century as an imitative word closely related to 'snarl'.