preen

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“
Leila looked exhausted; she didn't sparkle or preen, as she might have, given that she was beautiful and young, that it was her birthday, and that she had just presided over the most glamorous party of the season.

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Definitions (18)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. transitive verb To smooth or clean (feathers) with the beak or bill.
  2. transitive verb To trim or clean (fur) with the tongue, as cats do.
  3. transitive verb To dress or groom (oneself) with elaborate care; primp.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (6)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (44)

  • "I'm afraid I don't understand Birds preen, mammals groom, crossbreeds prune, dumbbell." —  Piers Anthony - [Xanth 29] - Pet Peeve (2005)
  • When birds preen, they consume the oil stuck on their feathers.
  • Humbled that this blog was mentioned (preen, preen), but they have a solid list some of which are new to me. —  CDR Salamander
  • This episode is further proof that for certain Western "peace" activists, the Arab-Israeli is a stage upon which they can take their star turns and preen before adoring crowds on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea. —  CAMERA Snapshots
  • Leila looked exhausted; she didn't sparkle or preen, as she might have, given that she was beautiful and young, that it was her birthday, and that she had just presided over the most glamorous party of the season. —  Far Outliers
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

Used in the same contextWord Family

preen:   preening
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English proinen, preinen, blend of Old French proignier, to prune; see prune2, and Old French poroindre, to anoint before (por-, before from Latin prō-; see pro-1 + oindre, to anoint from Latin unguere).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. Also dial, prin; from Middle English pren, from Anglo-Saxon preón, a pin, brooch, clasp, bodkin (also in comp. eár-preón, ear-ring, feax-preón, hairpin, mentel-preón, cloak-pin), = Icelandic prjōnn, a pin, knitting-needle, = Danish preen, a bodkin, point of a graving-tool, = Dutch prien = Middle Low German prēn, prēne, Low German preem, a pin, spike, awl, = Middle High German pfrieme, German pfriem, an awl; cf. Middle Latin diminutive premula, an awl, apparently from the Teutonic; ult. origin unknown.
  2. from Middle English prenen; from preen, n.
  3. A variant of prune, 4.
 

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