gnarl
pronunciation
How to pronounce gnarl in British English:
UK [nɑ:l]
How to pronounce gnarl in American English:
US [nɑl]
-
- Noun:
- something twisted and tight and swollen
-
- Verb:
- twist into a state of deformity
- make complaining remarks or noises under one's breath
Word Origin
- gnarl (v.)
- "contort, twist, make knotty," 1814, a back-formation from gnarled (q.v.). As a noun from 1824, "a knotty growth on wood." Earlier an identical verb was used imitatively in a sense of "to snarl" like a dog (1590s); Farmer & Henley lists gnarler as thieves' slang for "a watch-dog."
Example
- 1. Synthesis of hydroxyl esters catalyzed by modified gnarl .
- 2. My caress provoked a long , guttural gnarl .
- 3. Far from being drafted with geometric perfection , these tendrils have a natural gnarl to their wandering , like a real vine .