guttural was our Word of the Day on 08/26/2016. Hear the podcast!
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Recent Examples of guttural from the Web
Finally, the low moan of a guttural chant began, and everyone quieted and sat up a little straighter.
The latest broadcast came when Ri — in her raspy, guttural cadence — told the world Tuesday about North Korea’s successful test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, a weapon that one day might threaten the U.S. mainland.
The commands accelerated and descended into guttural yells.
It was magnificently hushed, minus the guttural caws of crows and occasional chimes of crosswalk signals, a pleasant sound heard across Japan.
In front of Canyon, the yellow Lab made guttural sounds then went still.
In casual conversation, his voice only has hints of his singing, which sounds like Dracula making his Broadway debut with an occasional guttural punk rock growl.
Behind a shock of chest-length hair and Lennon-style glasses, Scheidt is a regular meditator, and his guttural screams and croaks touch on themes of positivity, personal improvement, and transcendence.
Suddenly, a deafening chorus of guttural honking and wings flapping filled the sky, as tens of thousands of snow geese flew in over the surrounding hills.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'guttural.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Though it is now used to describe many sounds or utterances which strike the listener as harsh or disagreeable, the adjective guttural was originally applied only to sounds and utterances produced in the throat. This is reflected in the word's Latin root—guttur, meaning "throat." Despite the similarity in sound, guttural is not related to the English word gutter, which comes (by way of Anglo-French) from Latin gutta, meaning "drop."
Origin and Etymology of guttural
Middle French, probably from Medieval Latin gutturalis, from Latin guttur throat
First Known Use: 1594See Words from the same year
GUTTURAL Defined for English Language Learners
Definition of guttural for English Language Learners
: formed or pronounced in the throat
Medical Definition of guttural
: of or relating to the throat
Seen and Heard
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