Definitions

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

  • transitive verb To be reluctant to give or admit.
  • transitive verb To resent for having; begrudge.
  • noun A deep-seated feeling of resentment or rancor.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To crumble; crunch.
  • To squeeze; press down.
  • To be unwilling or reluctant.
  • To cherish ill-will; bear a grudge.
  • To be sorry; grieve.
  • To murmur; grumble.
  • To envy; wish to deprive of something.
  • To give or permit with reluctance; grant or submit to unwillingly; begrudge.
  • To entertain by way of grudge.
  • noun Ill-will excited by some special cause, as a personal injury or insult, successful rivalry, etc.; secret enmity; spite.
  • noun Unwillingness; reluctance.
  • noun Synonyms Animosity, Ill-will, Enmity, etc. See animosity.

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

  • intransitive verb To be covetous or envious; to show discontent; to murmur; to complain; to repine; to be unwilling or reluctant.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To feel compunction or grief.
  • noun Sullen malice or malevolence; cherished malice, enmity, or dislike; ill will; an old cause of hatred or quarrel.
  • noun obsolete Slight symptom of disease.
  • transitive verb To look upon with desire to possess or to appropriate; to envy (one) the possession of; to begrudge; to covet; to give with reluctance; to desire to get back again; -- followed by the direct object only, or by both the direct and indirect objects.
  • transitive verb obsolete To hold or harbor with malicious disposition or purpose; to cherish enviously.

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

  • noun countable Deep-seated animosity or ill-feeling about something or someone.

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

  • noun a resentment strong enough to justify retaliation
  • verb accept or admit unwillingly
  • verb bear a grudge; harbor ill feelings

Etymologies

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

[Middle English gruggen, grucchen, to grumble, complain, from Old French grouchier.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

A variant of grutch (mid 15th-century, younger than begrudge), ultimately from Old French..

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Examples

  • Carrying sports grudges too far, even if the grudge is against a Democrat (via Power Line).

    Sports 2010

  • On his return from Korea Absalom moved in below with Grace, perhaps because his long-term grudge against his older son-in-law had broken out that summer in a public spat.

    PEARL BUCK IN CHINA Hilary Spurling 2010

  • My only grudge is that the book ended far too soon.

    moon 2008

  • On his return from Korea Absalom moved in below with Grace, perhaps because his long-term grudge against his older son-in-law had broken out that summer in a public spat.

    PEARL BUCK IN CHINA Hilary Spurling 2010

  • Voting for Mccain out of grudge is simply the only way to allow Bush having his word to say in the white house, even after everyone thinks we finally got rid of him!

    Stark endorses Obama 2008

  • After all, these are the Ravens, who love nothing more than to win grudge matches.

    USATODAY.com 2008

  • Next week, I advance to the semifinals, where I will take on the winner of the all-in grudge match between the orangutan and the Barbary macaque.

    Monkeyshines superversive 2006

  • One of the characters nurtures a long-term grudge against the gods which she is finally able to bring before them.

    The Speculist: September 2004 Archives 2004

  • Had the taxpayer at home witnessed the way those upper story windows were put out by the Chester's shells, he would never again grudge the money spent in recent years in target practice.

    With Funston's Men 1914

  • Brant said he would not hold a long-term grudge against Sony "as long as they get the stuff back up and running and nobody has to suffer from it."

    Boston.com Top Stories 2011

  • “When there’s some kind of suboptimal thing that somebody has done to us, the grudge is our story that we remember about that incident, because it benefits you to have that story remembered.”

    How to Hold Healthy Grudges By 2019

Comments

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  • Arguments happen. But let’s make sure they are resolved. Grudges are a burden too heavy to carry.

    February 21, 2011

  • The Titan’s Curse

    Percy Jackson and the Olympians

    pg. 274

    “A brave man," Artemis said with grudging approval.

    November 12, 2012

  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians

    pg. 274

    "Yes I know." Artemis said. "But I am sure Dionysus will not hold a grudge just because of a little, ah, misunderstanding...."

    November 13, 2012

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