preen

Use preen in a sentence

The duck is preening his feathers.

verb

Preen is defined as to take great care in cleaning oneself or another.

An example of preen is a bird cleaning its feathers.
An example of preen is a woman carefully plucking her eyebrows.

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MLA Style

"preen." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 September 2018. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/Preen>.

APA Style

preen. (n.d.). Retrieved September 17th, 2018, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/Preen

preen

to clean and trim (the feathers) with the beak: said of birds
to dress or groom (oneself) in a fussy and self-satisfied way
to show satisfaction with or vanity in (oneself)

Origin of preen

Middle English preynen, altered (infl. by preonen, to prick with a pin from preon from OE, a pin) from proinen, to prune

to dress or groom oneself in a fussy and self-satisfied way

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MLA Style

"preen." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 September 2018. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/Preen>.

APA Style

preen. (n.d.). Retrieved September 17th, 2018, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/Preen

preen

verb

preened, preen·ing, preens

verb

transitive

a. To smooth or clean (feathers) with the beak or bill.
b. To trim or clean (fur) with the tongue, as cats do.
To dress or groom (oneself) with elaborate care; primp.
To take pride or satisfaction in (oneself); gloat.

verb

intransitive

To dress up; primp.
To swell with pride; gloat or exult.

Origin of preen

Middle English proinen, preinen blend of Old French proignier to prune ; see prune ². and Old French poroindre to anoint before ( por- before ) ( from Latin prō- ; see pro- ¹. ) ( oindre to anoint ) ( from Latin unguere )

Related Forms:

preen′er
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"preen." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 September 2018. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/Preen>.

APA Style

preen. (n.d.). Retrieved September 17th, 2018, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/Preen

Noun

(plural preens)

A forked tool used by clothiers for dressing cloth.
(dialectal) pin
(dialectal) bodkin; brooch

Verb

(third-person singular simple present preens, present participle preening, simple past and past participle preened)

To pin; fasten.

Origin

From Middle English pren, from Old English prÄ“on, from Proto-Germanic *preunaz (compare Icelandic prjÃ³nn (“pin, knitting-needle"), Danish pryne "˜needle, eel-spear'), from Proto-Indo-European *brewn- (“protrusion, tip, edge") (compare Lithuanian briaunÃ "˜edge', Albanian brez "˜belt, girdle'). The verb is from Middle English prenen, from pren (“a preen").