Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To smile broadly, often baring the teeth, as in amusement, glee, embarrassment, or other strong emotion.
- v. To express with a grin: I grinned my approval.
- n. The act of grinning.
- n. The facial expression produced by grinning.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To draw back the lips so as to show the teeth set nearly or quite together, as a snarling dog, or a person in pain or anger. The muscles specially concerned in the act are the levator labii superioris and levator anguli oris.
- Hence To smile with a similar distortion of the features; exhibit derision, stupid admiration, embarrassment, or the like, by drawing back the lips from the teeth with a smiling expression.
- To snarl with, as the teeth in grinning.
- To effect by grinning.
- n. The act of withdrawing the lips and showing the teeth; hence, a broad smile; especially, a forced, derisive, sardonic, or vacant smile.
- n. A snare or trap which snaps and closes when a certain part is touched.
Wiktionary
- n. A smile in which the lips are parted to reveal the teeth.
- v. To smile parting the lips so as to show the teeth.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A snare; a gin.
- v. To show the teeth, as a dog; to snarl.
- v. To set the teeth together and open the lips, or to open the mouth and withdraw the lips from the teeth, so as to show them, as in laughter, scorn, or pain.
- v. To express by grinning.
- n. The act of closing the teeth and showing them, or of withdrawing the lips and showing the teeth; a hard, forced, or sneering smile.
WordNet 3.0
- v. to draw back the lips and reveal the teeth, in a smile, grimace, or snarl
- n. a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
Etymologies
- Middle English grennen, to grimace, from Old English grennian.
Examples
“Ethan's cheeky grin put a smile on my face too! yargggh … looks like I won't make it before Christmas, but I can do this tag after, yea? since it's not totally seasonal … * grin*”
““Two wrongs don't make a right?” he says, knowing his grin is a bit lopsided and sad.”
“Olyphant's Cheshire grin is delicious as the office women swoon, comparing him to Josh Duhamel while Kevin suggests, "He's like a better-looking Andy.”
“They tried it once, in the days when the search was on for gold, but they always left their heads behind to grin from the smoky rafters of the bushmen's huts.”
“Mr. Obtuse, the obfuscator, or the guy with the grin is getting tiresome beyond belief!”
“Why does that tramp have a little shit-eatin grin on her face?”
“The Iranians and Putin grin whenever they hear that.”
Matthew Yglesias » Senator Ensign Thinks States Can Cut Back Without Cutting Anything Back
“The mixed-media cover of Knucklehead resembles that of a graphic novel about World War II: Young Jon emerges with a grin from the hatch of an armored tank – a pint-sized John Wayne in a bow tie – as bombers drop their payload overhead.”
“A big grin is good for cartoons, but wears very thin after overexposure.”
“Sustain grin until one of the two says "Isn't daddy silly?".”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘grin’.
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Public List: Two by Fives
This is an experiment in public lists--something I've been thinking about for some time. The goal is to create a collection of short, powerful, evocative words.
This is an open list. A...icy, howl, hymn, thorn, fire, vile, mist, blunt, scum, dark, shot, gleam and 137 more...
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The Secret Garden
sickly, fretful, toddle, cross, stammer, manor, slink, grind, disdain, imploringly, wring, wailing and 30 more...
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Funny Laughter Words
Words that speak humor
humor, laugh, funny, laughter, hilarity, guffaw, chortle, giggle, burst, hilarious, happy, chuckle and 66 more...
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Terms That Should Be Banished to a Kmart Parkin...
No one knows why.
steampunk, klangfarbenmelodie, twitterdom, imbroglio, maspeth, camcorder, cicada, charcuterie, giggle, hortatory, susurration, bensonhurst and 16 more...
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Skywriting by Word of Mouth
Candid!
neurotic, content, enlightenment, disembodied, perpetual, grin, eloquence, demented, sexual, fantasy

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