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Definition 2024


chunter

chunter

English

Verb

chunter (third-person singular simple present chunters, present participle chuntering, simple past and past participle chuntered)

  1. (Britain, dialect) To speak in a soft, indistinct manner, mutter.
    • 2003, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, page 349:
      Ron continued to chunter under his breath all the way down the street.
  2. (Britain, dialect) To grumble, complain.
    • 1921 [1999], David Herbert Lawrence, Sea and Sardinia (Penguins Classics), page 74:
      “Since she had another seat and was quite comfortable, we smiled and let her chunter.”

Translations

References

  • “D. H. Lawrence gave a new lease on life to the verb to chunter, ‘to mutter, complain’, labelled “Obs. exc. dial”, when he used it in Sea and Sardinia (1921)’,” Languages in Contact and Contrast: Essays in Contact Linguistics, by Vladimir Ivir, Damir Kalogjera, page 411 (b.g.c link)