groin

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

groin, n. [F. groin, fr. grogner to grunt, L. grunnire.].

 The snout of a swine.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]

groin, v. i. [F. grogner to grunt, grumble.].

 To grunt to growl; to snarl; to murmur.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]
"Bears that groined coatinually."  [1913 Webster]

groin, n. [Icel. grein distinction, division, branch; akin to Sw. gren, branch, space between the legs, Icel. greina to distinguish, divide, Sw. grena to branch, straddle. Cf. Grain a branch.].

•  The line between the lower part of the abdomen and the thigh, or the region of this line; the inguen.  [1913 Webster]
•  The projecting solid angle formed by the meeting of two vaults, growing more obtuse as it approaches the summit.  [1913 Webster]
•  The surface formed by two such vaults.  [1913 Webster]
•  A frame of woodwork across a beach to accumulate and retain shingle.  Weale.  [1913 Webster]

groin, v. t. 

 To fashion into groins; to build with groins.  [1913 Webster]
"The hand that rounded Peter's dome,
And groined the aisles of Christian Rome,
Wrought in a sad sincerity."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

groin, n. & v.
--n.
1 the depression between the belly and the thigh.
2 Archit. a an edge formed by intersecting vaults. b an arch supporting a vault.
--v.tr. Archit. build with groins.

groin, US var. of GROYNE.

THESAURUS

groin

V, abutment, anchorage, anchorage ground, arc-boutant, arch dam, backstop, bamboo curtain, bank, bar, barrage, barrier, basin, beam, bear-trap dam, beaver dam, berth, boom, branch, breakwater, breastwork, brick wall, buffer, bulkhead, bulwark, buttress, buttress pier, buttressing, cofferdam, crotch, crutch, dam, defense, delta, dike, ditch, dock, dockage, dockyard, dry dock, earthwork, embankment, fan, fence, flying buttress, fork, furcula, furculum, gate, gravity dam, hanging buttress, harbor, harborage, haven, hydraulic-fill dam, inguen, iron curtain, jam, jetty, jutty, landing, landing place, landing stage, leaping weir, levee, logjam, marina, milldam, moat, mole, moorings, mound, offshoot, parapet, pier, pier buttress, port, portcullis, prong, protected anchorage, quay, ramification, rampart, retaining wall, road, roadblock, roads, roadstead, rock-fill dam, seaport, seawall, shipyard, shoulder, shutter dam, slip, stem, stone wall, trident, wall, weir, wharf, wicket dam, wishbone, work

ROGET THESAURUS

groin

Angularity

N angularity, angularness, aduncity, angle, cusp, bend, fold, notch, fork, bifurcation, elbow, knee, knuckle, ankle, groin, crotch, crutch, crane, fluke, scythe, sickle, zigzag, kimbo, akimbo, corner, nook, recess, niche, oriel, coign, right angle, obliquity, angle of 45 degrees, miter, acute angle, obtuse angle, salient angle, reentering angle, spherical angle, angular measurement, angular elevation, angular distance, angular velocity, trigonometry, goniometry, altimetry, clinometer, graphometer, goniometer, theodolite, sextant, quadrant, dichotomy, triangle, trigon, wedge, rectangle, square, lozenge, diamond, rhomb, rhombus, quadrangle, quadrilateral, parallelogram, quadrature, polygon, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, oxygon, decagon, pyramid, cone, Platonic bodies, cube, rhomboid, tetrahedron, pentahedron, hexahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron, eicosahedron, prism, pyramid, parallelopiped, curb roof, gambrel roof, mansard roof, angular, bent, crooked, aduncous, uncinated, aquiline, jagged, serrated, falciform, falcated, furcated, forked, bifurcate, zigzag, furcular, hooked, dovetailed, knock kneed, crinkled, akimbo, kimbo, geniculated, oblique, fusiform, wedge-shaped, cuneiform, cuneate, multangular, oxygonal, triangular, trigonal, trilateral, quadrangular, quadrilateral, foursquare, rectangular, square, multilateral, polygonal, cubical, rhomboid, rhomboidal, pyramidal.