moaning

3 definitions • 6 examples

present participle of

to make a long, low sound of pain, suffering, or another strong emotion:

He moaned with pain before losing consciousness.

"Let me die," he moaned.

to make a complaint in an unhappy voice, usually about something that does not seem important to other people:

Thelma's always moaning (about something), and forgets how lucky she actually is.

[ + speech ] "I don't like potatoes," he moaned.

[ + (that) ] First she moans (that) she's too hot, and then that she's too cold.

After a lot of moaning and groaning, they eventually started work.