rrrrr.

n.  a lion’s friendly purr, as in That’s Good! That’s Bad! by Margery Cuyler.


n.  a noise “superior to the human voice in energy,” featured in an artform called a “poème simultan” (simultaneous poem), a “contrapuntal recitative in which three or more voices speak, sing, whistle, etc., at the same time in such a way that the elegiac, humorous, or bizarre content of the piece is brought out by these combinations” (Hugo Ball, Flight Out of Time: A Dada Diary).


n.  a roar of aggression.

<“Rrrrr!”  The roar he began when he’d launched himself at Dur continued now.  —Denise Graham, Eye of Fortune.>

n.  a rooster noise “like water about to boil,” that means “he’s looking out for his hen” (James Whorton, Frankland: A Novel).


n.  a stomach’s growl of hunger; see also rrrr.

<Rrrrr. My stomach growled.  Four o’clock: time for an afternoon snack.  —Bruce Hale, Farewell, My Lunchbag: A Chet Gecko Mystery.>

RRRRR.

n.  a subdued war cry.

<“RRRRR,” I growl as I run through, not quite yelling the war cry Urien wants.  I may be comfortable enough with this culture to growl through clenched teeth, but not enough to open wide and yell.  —Patrick O’Donnell, The Knights Next Door: Everyday People Living Middle Ages Dreams.>

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