Main meanings of grizzle in English

: grizzle¹ grizzle²

grizzle¹

Pronunciation /ˈɡrɪzl/

See synonyms for grizzle

Translate grizzle into Spanish

adjective

often in combination

(of hair or fur) having dark and white hairs mixed.
‘grizzle-haired’
- ‘Although most Borders have dark ears and muzzles, their coats may be grizzle and tan, blue and tan, red or wheaten.’

noun

mass noun

A mixture of dark and white hairs.
‘Today the bags under his eyes are big and dark enough to trap a badger and a grey grizzle of beard coats his jowls.’
- ‘It was the Major who broke the ice, a short and stocky man with a grizzle of dark stubble on his face.’
- ‘His pale skin and delicate features are complemented by a grizzle of stubble in keeping with his bohemian, New Agey image.’

Origin

Middle English from Old French grisel, from gris ‘grey’.

Main meanings of grizzle in English

: grizzle¹ grizzle²

grizzle²

Pronunciation /ˈɡrɪzl/

See synonyms for grizzle

Translate grizzle into Spanish

verb

[no object]

1British informal (of a child) cry fretfully.
- ‘sometimes children grizzled, sometimes they wailed’
- ‘It's raining hard; Moses is grizzling in the back.’
- ‘It was that half grizzling / half cooing that he does when he doesn't know whether he wants to cry or not.’
- ‘The young woman glanced at the boy by her side, who was obviously tired and grizzling softly.’
- ‘A grizzling or whining type of cry often begins in older babies - and - lucky you - it's usually reserved for parents.’
- ‘And, for a time, he felt nothing but genuine goodwill towards the people he passed - the embarrassing drunks, the bickering couples and grizzling kids, he smiled at them all.’
- ‘Many mothers are familiar with the grizzling unhappy child, who may have a temperature of 38 or 39 degrees.’
- ‘And when my three-year-old daughter Eva awoke from a late afternoon snooze, the promise of ‘pizza in a café’ was enough to keep any groggy grizzling in check.’
- ‘Grizzling and crying can mean your child is absolutely exhausted, but it's often hard to tell the difference between tired grizzling and hungry grizzling.’
- ‘Believe me, there is a big difference between what is traditionally known as controlled crying and allowing your child to lie in his bed, grizzling for a while before nodding off.’
- ‘It's okay to explain yourself once, even twice but then just say no in a normal calm voice and ignore the grizzling.’
- ‘He grizzles, grumbles and grunts whenever he's awake, for whatever reason.’
- ‘He can cry and grizzle and moan for hours until he finally gives up.’
- ‘She wakes and grizzles until we stagger into her room.’
- ‘For the first time this week Amelia did not grizzle or throw a tantrum whilst sitting in the trolley and I managed to negotiate the parking lot with grace and ease (my two imaginary friends).’
- ‘It was so nice that I went back there again today with Lauren, who doesn't grizzle too much most of the time (just tricks) and we did one of the more robust walks.’
- ‘After he moaned and grizzled a bit more, and after I said I couldn't stop the rain a couple of times, I got up, we both went to the toilet - again - and I tucked him in his own bed.’
cry, cry fretfully, weep, whimper, whine, mewl, moan, bleat, snivel, sob, wail, howl, bawl
View synonyms
1. 1.1Sulk or grumble.
  ‘Banks was grizzling about how left-wing our media are.’
  ‘Then again, there's not much point in grizzling about it.’
  ‘An English-born colleague grizzled that it seemed very focused on London.’
  ‘Wealthy people may grizzle about the costs, but in the end will probably be able to pay the congestion tolling to drive across the Auckland region.’
  ‘Bottom line - the ALP will grizzle for a bit, and then support it.’
  ‘As much as I hate and grizzle about these shifts, I accept they are part of my contribution to the system.’
  ‘Yes, all those parties that in the last few days have grizzled about lack of funding for transport refused to support the funding increase.’
  ‘There is always a temptation to grizzle about how bad it was under the ECA (and it was bad!)’
  ‘Again, National members grizzle and whine but offer no alternative.’
  ‘Meanwhile, there those members go, continuing to whine and grizzle.’
  ‘The unemployment rate is down, and although business always grizzles no matter who is in Government, business has, on the whole, been pretty happy.’
  ‘One thing about it, if you go to the races, nobody's grizzling - they're all trying to pick a winner.’
  ‘We were grizzling about the exploitative nature of the Pride festival, and that we resented paying fifteen quid just to get into the village itself, when we support the whole thing every weekend, all year round anyway.’
  ‘Rather than apologise or back down, Mac grizzled over a Queen's Club ban that he incurred after insulting the chairman's wife on a practice court days after his 1984 win, and opted not play in the championship for six years.’
  ‘Eddie had been working Buchanan Street - a prime lunchtime pitch - for over an hour ‘I've not even made enough for my bus fare up the road,’ he grizzled.’
  ‘You may complain, they say; you may grouch about globalisation, bellyache about environmental destruction, grizzle about consumer society.’
  ‘You could spend long, deliciously miserable evenings in a corner of your local watering hole, grizzling into your beer and moaning to your mates about the general unhappiness of your lot.’
  ‘What worries me is that so many large companies appear to be run by people who would rather litigate or grizzle than innovate.’
  ‘She cannot on the one hand accuse the nation's most senior lawyer of meddling in the judiciary, and then on the other hand grizzle when a transparent and proper process is set up to deal with matters of conduct.’
  ‘He comment was that his ancestors had been much harder done by, so why should the indigenous population grizzle?’