Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various plump, chiefly ground-dwelling gallinaceous birds of the subfamily Tetraoninae of northern North America and Eurasia, characteristically having feathered legs and nostrils and mottled plumage.
  • intransitive verb To complain; grumble.
  • noun A cause for complaint.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To hunt or shoot grouse.
  • noun The Scotch ptarmigan, moorhen, or red-game, Tetrao or Lagopus scoticus, a British gallinaceous bird with feathered feet. It is a local modification or insular race of the common ptarmigan of Europe. Hence — 2. Some bird like the above; any bird of the family Tetraonidœ and subfamily Tetraoninæ.
  • noun In the widest sense, as a collective plural, the grouse family, Tetraonidæ. In this sense the word includes various partridges and related birds.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To seek or shoot grouse.
  • intransitive verb informal To complain or grumble.
  • noun (Zoöl.) Any of the numerous species of gallinaceous birds of the family Tetraonidæ, and subfamily Tetraoninæ, inhabiting Europe, Asia, and North America. They have plump bodies, strong, well-feathered legs, and usually mottled plumage. The group includes the ptarmigans (Lagopus), having feathered feet.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A cause for complaint.
  • verb To complain or grumble.
  • noun Any of various game birds of the family Tetraonidae which inhabit temperate and subarctic regions of the northern hemisphere.
  • verb To seek or shoot grouse.
  • adjective Australia, New Zealand, slang Excellent.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb complain
  • verb hunt grouse
  • noun popular game bird having a plump body and feathered legs and feet
  • noun flesh of any of various grouse of the family Tetraonidae; usually roasted; flesh too dry to broil

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Perhaps from French dialectal groucer, from Old French grouchier; see grudge.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

As a verb from the late 19th century (first recorded by Kipling), as a noun from the early 20th; origin uncertain, possibly from French groucier "to murmur, grumble", in origin onomatopoeic. Compare grutch with the same meaning, but attestation from the 1200s, whence also grouch.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Attested in the 1530s, as grows, a plural used collectively. Of unknown origin.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

1940s, origin uncertain.

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Examples

Comments

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  • Also Australian slang for bloody good, excellent, etc.

    September 11, 2008

  • Bodhi is correct, although this term is dated. I haven't heard it used in seriousness since the 1980's. It's true enough to say that many classic Australianisms - particularly those recognisable to foreigners - have fallen into disuse in recent years.

    January 21, 2009

  • "It's ridiculous -- she's too old for him and he's a slow learner and a tenant and a Lamb, for gawdsake, but he's just the grousest looking boy, and his hot blue eyes make you go racy inside."

    Cloudstreet by Tim Winton, p 159 of the Graywolf Press hardcover edition

    March 31, 2010

  • Mrs. Hudson made this for Holmes and Watson's dinner in "The Dancing Men" episode.

    June 13, 2012