"preen" meaning in English

See preen in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /pɹiːn/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-preen.wav [Southern-England] Forms: preens [plural]
Rhymes: -iːn Etymology: From Middle English pren, from Old English prēon, from Proto-Germanic *preunaz (compare Icelandic prjónn (“pin, knitting-needle”), Danish pryne (“needle, eel-spear”)), of uncertain origin, but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *brewn- (“protrusion, tip, edge”) (compare Lithuanian briaunà (“edge”), Albanian brez (“belt, girdle”)). Cognate with German Pfriem. The verb is from Middle English prenen, from pren (“a preen”), akin to German pfriemen. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|pren}} Middle English pren, {{inh|en|ang|prēon}} Old English prēon, {{inh|en|gem-pro|*preunaz}} Proto-Germanic *preunaz, {{cog|is|prjónn||pin, knitting-needle}} Icelandic prjónn (“pin, knitting-needle”), {{cog|da|pryne||needle, eel-spear}} Danish pryne (“needle, eel-spear”), {{der|en|ine-pro|*brew-|*brewn-|protrusion, tip, edge}} Proto-Indo-European *brewn- (“protrusion, tip, edge”), {{cog|lt|briaunà||edge}} Lithuanian briaunà (“edge”), {{cog|sq|brez||belt, girdle}} Albanian brez (“belt, girdle”), {{cog|de|Pfriem}} German Pfriem, {{inh|en|enm|prenen}} Middle English prenen, {{m|enm|pren||a preen}} pren (“a preen”), {{cog|de|pfriemen}} German pfriemen Head templates: {{en-noun}} preen (plural preens)
  1. A forked tool used by clothiers for dressing cloth.
    Sense id: en-preen-en-noun-ZoJ3FsBj Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 54 3 44
  2. (dialectal) pin Tags: dialectal
    Sense id: en-preen-en-noun-ZPRqdSah
  3. (dialectal) bodkin; brooch Tags: dialectal
    Sense id: en-preen-en-noun-btma7W23 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with topic categories using raw markup Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 54 3 44 Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 17 1 26 3 10 9 5 3 5 15 7
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: prin [dialectal]
Etymology number: 1

Verb

IPA: /pɹiːn/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-preen.wav [Southern-England] Forms: preens [present, singular, third-person], preening [participle, present], preened [participle, past], preened [past]
Rhymes: -iːn Etymology: From Middle English pren, from Old English prēon, from Proto-Germanic *preunaz (compare Icelandic prjónn (“pin, knitting-needle”), Danish pryne (“needle, eel-spear”)), of uncertain origin, but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *brewn- (“protrusion, tip, edge”) (compare Lithuanian briaunà (“edge”), Albanian brez (“belt, girdle”)). Cognate with German Pfriem. The verb is from Middle English prenen, from pren (“a preen”), akin to German pfriemen. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|pren}} Middle English pren, {{inh|en|ang|prēon}} Old English prēon, {{inh|en|gem-pro|*preunaz}} Proto-Germanic *preunaz, {{cog|is|prjónn||pin, knitting-needle}} Icelandic prjónn (“pin, knitting-needle”), {{cog|da|pryne||needle, eel-spear}} Danish pryne (“needle, eel-spear”), {{der|en|ine-pro|*brew-|*brewn-|protrusion, tip, edge}} Proto-Indo-European *brewn- (“protrusion, tip, edge”), {{cog|lt|briaunà||edge}} Lithuanian briaunà (“edge”), {{cog|sq|brez||belt, girdle}} Albanian brez (“belt, girdle”), {{cog|de|Pfriem}} German Pfriem, {{inh|en|enm|prenen}} Middle English prenen, {{m|enm|pren||a preen}} pren (“a preen”), {{cog|de|pfriemen}} German pfriemen Head templates: {{en-verb}} preen (third-person singular simple present preens, present participle preening, simple past and past participle preened)
  1. (transitive) To pin; fasten. Tags: transitive Derived forms: preen oil
    Sense id: en-preen-en-verb-VVHbhQDt
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: prin [dialectal]
Etymology number: 1

Verb

IPA: /pɹiːn/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-preen.wav [Southern-England] Forms: preens [present, singular, third-person], preening [participle, present], preened [participle, past], preened [past]
Rhymes: -iːn Etymology: Variant of prune (by influence of preen above). Attested in Chaucer (c. 1395) in the variants preyneth, prayneth, proyneth, prunyht, pruneth, from Old French proignier (“to trim the feathers with the beak”). Etymology templates: {{m|en|prune}} prune, {{m|en|preen}} preen, {{der|en|fro|proignier||to trim the feathers with the beak}} Old French proignier (“to trim the feathers with the beak”) Head templates: {{en-verb}} preen (third-person singular simple present preens, present participle preening, simple past and past participle preened)
  1. (of birds, transitive, intransitive) To groom; to trim or dress the feathers with the beak. Tags: intransitive, transitive Translations (to groom (of birds)): чистя си перата (čistja si perata) (Bulgarian), 用喙整理羽毛 (alt: ) (Chinese Mandarin), čistit si (Czech), pudse (Danish), sukia (Finnish), putzen (German), cluimhrigh (Irish), សសិត (sɑɑsɑsət) (Khmer), чи́ститься (čístitʹsja) [imperfective] (Russian), почи́ститься (počístitʹsja) [perfective] (Russian), прихора́шиваться (prixorášivatʹsja) [colloquial, imperfective] (Russian), прихороши́ться (prixorošítʹsja) [colloquial, perfective] (Russian), putsa (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-preen-en-verb-2J2WPG9i Disambiguation of 'to groom (of birds)': 46 6 4 4 2 6 34
  2. (of people, intransitive, reflexive) To spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance, e.g. in front of a mirror. Tags: intransitive, reflexive Categories (topical): Appearance Synonyms: primp, smarten up Translations (to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)): šlechtit se [imperfective] (Czech), fintit se [imperfective] (Czech), šňořit se (Czech), herausputzen (German), прихора́шиваться (prixorášivatʹsja) [imperfective] (Russian), прихороши́ться (prixorošítʹsja) [perfective] (Russian)
    Sense id: en-preen-en-verb-pMmPqhNR Disambiguation of Appearance: 1 1 4 0 6 39 5 4 3 5 32 Disambiguation of "to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)": 2 85 4 2 0 4 4
  3. (intransitive) To show off, posture, or smarm. Tags: intransitive Translations (to show off): кипря се (kiprja se) (Bulgarian), naparovat se [imperfective] (Czech), pyšnit se [imperfective] (Czech), sich brüsten (German), ostentar (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-preen-en-verb-FHL2O8qh Disambiguation of 'to show off': 2 8 82 2 0 4 2
  4. (transitive) To flatter. Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-preen-en-verb-2915pBit
  5. (transitive) To comb; to make orderly. Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-preen-en-verb-RiXt0h1r
  6. (transitive) To trim up, as trees. Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-preen-en-verb-qA7Kt-3C
  7. (transitive, more generally) To improve the appearance of; groom; prettify. Tags: broadly, transitive Categories (topical): Appearance
    Sense id: en-preen-en-verb-4Yi35LYC Disambiguation of Appearance: 1 1 4 0 6 39 5 4 3 5 32
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: primp
Etymology number: 2

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for preen meaning in English (20.1kB)

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "pren"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English pren",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "prēon"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English prēon",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*preunaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *preunaz",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "prjónn",
        "3": "",
        "4": "pin, knitting-needle"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic prjónn (“pin, knitting-needle”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "pryne",
        "3": "",
        "4": "needle, eel-spear"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish pryne (“needle, eel-spear”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*brew-",
        "4": "*brewn-",
        "5": "protrusion, tip, edge"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *brewn- (“protrusion, tip, edge”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "lt",
        "2": "briaunà",
        "3": "",
        "4": "edge"
      },
      "expansion": "Lithuanian briaunà (“edge”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "sq",
        "2": "brez",
        "3": "",
        "4": "belt, girdle"
      },
      "expansion": "Albanian brez (“belt, girdle”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Pfriem"
      },
      "expansion": "German Pfriem",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "prenen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English prenen",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "pren",
        "3": "",
        "4": "a preen"
      },
      "expansion": "pren (“a preen”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "pfriemen"
      },
      "expansion": "German pfriemen",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English pren, from Old English prēon, from Proto-Germanic *preunaz (compare Icelandic prjónn (“pin, knitting-needle”), Danish pryne (“needle, eel-spear”)), of uncertain origin, but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *brewn- (“protrusion, tip, edge”) (compare Lithuanian briaunà (“edge”), Albanian brez (“belt, girdle”)). Cognate with German Pfriem.\nThe verb is from Middle English prenen, from pren (“a preen”), akin to German pfriemen.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "preens",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "preen (plural preens)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "54 3 44",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A forked tool used by clothiers for dressing cloth."
      ],
      "id": "en-preen-en-noun-ZoJ3FsBj",
      "links": [
        [
          "forked",
          "forked"
        ],
        [
          "tool",
          "tool"
        ],
        [
          "clothier",
          "clothier"
        ],
        [
          "dress",
          "dress"
        ],
        [
          "cloth",
          "cloth"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide",
          "text": "She never seemed to want for siller; the house was as bright as a new preen, the yaird better delved than the manse garden; […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "pin"
      ],
      "id": "en-preen-en-noun-ZPRqdSah",
      "links": [
        [
          "pin",
          "pin"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(dialectal) pin"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "54 3 44",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 1 26 3 10 9 5 3 5 15 7",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "bodkin; brooch"
      ],
      "id": "en-preen-en-noun-btma7W23",
      "links": [
        [
          "bodkin",
          "bodkin"
        ],
        [
          "brooch",
          "brooch"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(dialectal) bodkin; brooch"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pɹiːn/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-iːn"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-preen.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e8/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e8/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "tags": [
        "dialectal"
      ],
      "word": "prin"
    }
  ],
  "word": "preen"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "pren"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English pren",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "prēon"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English prēon",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*preunaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *preunaz",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "prjónn",
        "3": "",
        "4": "pin, knitting-needle"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic prjónn (“pin, knitting-needle”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "pryne",
        "3": "",
        "4": "needle, eel-spear"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish pryne (“needle, eel-spear”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*brew-",
        "4": "*brewn-",
        "5": "protrusion, tip, edge"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *brewn- (“protrusion, tip, edge”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "lt",
        "2": "briaunà",
        "3": "",
        "4": "edge"
      },
      "expansion": "Lithuanian briaunà (“edge”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "sq",
        "2": "brez",
        "3": "",
        "4": "belt, girdle"
      },
      "expansion": "Albanian brez (“belt, girdle”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Pfriem"
      },
      "expansion": "German Pfriem",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "prenen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English prenen",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "pren",
        "3": "",
        "4": "a preen"
      },
      "expansion": "pren (“a preen”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "pfriemen"
      },
      "expansion": "German pfriemen",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English pren, from Old English prēon, from Proto-Germanic *preunaz (compare Icelandic prjónn (“pin, knitting-needle”), Danish pryne (“needle, eel-spear”)), of uncertain origin, but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *brewn- (“protrusion, tip, edge”) (compare Lithuanian briaunà (“edge”), Albanian brez (“belt, girdle”)). Cognate with German Pfriem.\nThe verb is from Middle English prenen, from pren (“a preen”), akin to German pfriemen.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "preens",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "preening",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "preened",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "preened",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "preen (third-person singular simple present preens, present participle preening, simple past and past participle preened)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "preen oil"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To pin; fasten."
      ],
      "id": "en-preen-en-verb-VVHbhQDt",
      "links": [
        [
          "pin",
          "pin"
        ],
        [
          "fasten",
          "fasten"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To pin; fasten."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pɹiːn/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-iːn"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-preen.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e8/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e8/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "tags": [
        "dialectal"
      ],
      "word": "prin"
    }
  ],
  "word": "preen"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prune"
      },
      "expansion": "prune",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "preen"
      },
      "expansion": "preen",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "proignier",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to trim the feathers with the beak"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French proignier (“to trim the feathers with the beak”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Variant of prune (by influence of preen above). Attested in Chaucer (c. 1395) in the variants preyneth, prayneth, proyneth, prunyht, pruneth, from Old French proignier (“to trim the feathers with the beak”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "preens",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "preening",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "preened",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "preened",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "preen (third-person singular simple present preens, present participle preening, simple past and past participle preened)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "primp"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "To groom; to trim or dress the feathers with the beak."
      ],
      "id": "en-preen-en-verb-2J2WPG9i",
      "links": [
        [
          "transitive",
          "transitive"
        ],
        [
          "intransitive",
          "intransitive"
        ],
        [
          "groom",
          "groom"
        ],
        [
          "trim",
          "trim"
        ],
        [
          "feather",
          "feather"
        ],
        [
          "beak",
          "beak"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(of birds, transitive, intransitive) To groom; to trim or dress the feathers with the beak."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of birds",
        "of birds"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "transitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "46 6 4 4 2 6 34",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "čistja si perata",
          "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
          "word": "чистя си перата"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "46 6 4 4 2 6 34",
          "alt": "鸟",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
          "word": "用喙整理羽毛"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "46 6 4 4 2 6 34",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
          "word": "čistit si"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "46 6 4 4 2 6 34",
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
          "word": "pudse"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "46 6 4 4 2 6 34",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
          "word": "sukia"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "46 6 4 4 2 6 34",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
          "word": "putzen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "46 6 4 4 2 6 34",
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
          "word": "cluimhrigh"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "46 6 4 4 2 6 34",
          "code": "km",
          "lang": "Khmer",
          "roman": "sɑɑsɑsət",
          "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
          "word": "សសិត"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "46 6 4 4 2 6 34",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "čístitʹsja",
          "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "чи́ститься"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "46 6 4 4 2 6 34",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "počístitʹsja",
          "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "почи́ститься"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "46 6 4 4 2 6 34",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "prixorášivatʹsja",
          "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
          "tags": [
            "colloquial",
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "прихора́шиваться"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "46 6 4 4 2 6 34",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "prixorošítʹsja",
          "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
          "tags": [
            "colloquial",
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "прихороши́ться"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "46 6 4 4 2 6 34",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
          "word": "putsa"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "1 1 4 0 6 39 5 4 3 5 32",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Appearance",
          "orig": "en:Appearance",
          "parents": [
            "Perception",
            "Body",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1922, James Joyce, Ulysses",
          "text": "Mr Kernan halted and preened himself before the sloping mirror of Peter Kennedy, hairdresser. Stylish coat, beyond a doubt. Scott of Dawson street. Well worth the half sovereign I gave Neary for it.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance, e.g. in front of a mirror."
      ],
      "id": "en-preen-en-verb-pMmPqhNR",
      "links": [
        [
          "attractive",
          "attractive"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(of people, intransitive, reflexive) To spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance, e.g. in front of a mirror."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of people",
        "of people"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "primp"
        },
        {
          "word": "smarten up"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "reflexive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "2 85 4 2 0 4 4",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "šlechtit se"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 85 4 2 0 4 4",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "fintit se"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 85 4 2 0 4 4",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)",
          "word": "šňořit se"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 85 4 2 0 4 4",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)",
          "word": "herausputzen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 85 4 2 0 4 4",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "prixorášivatʹsja",
          "sense": "to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "прихора́шиваться"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 85 4 2 0 4 4",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "prixorošítʹsja",
          "sense": "to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "прихороши́ться"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1993, Scott Simmon, The Films of D W Griffith",
          "text": "His preening self-satisfaction, chest thrown forward as he settles into a chair in his mansion...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998 April 7, Neil Strauss, “Robert Pilatus, 32, Performer In Disgraced Band Milli Vanilli”, in The New York Times, →ISSN",
          "text": "Impressed by their looks and their dancing, but not their singing, Mr. Farian called them Milli Vanilli and recorded an album of lightweight, preening dance-pop under their name, using uncredited studio musicians.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004, Jude Deveraux, Counterfeit Lady",
          "text": "He preened under her compliments.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Mike Lofgren, The Party Is Over",
          "text": "The crowning tragedy—or sick joke—is that those who have postured and preened the most ostentatiously about their devotion to the Constitution have been the most indifferent to its destruction.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2016, Jeanne Williams, Daughter of the Sword",
          "text": "“Six look like dyin', and five dead,” preened the killer.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To show off, posture, or smarm."
      ],
      "id": "en-preen-en-verb-FHL2O8qh",
      "links": [
        [
          "show off",
          "show off"
        ],
        [
          "posture",
          "posture"
        ],
        [
          "smarm",
          "smarm"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To show off, posture, or smarm."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "2 8 82 2 0 4 2",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "kiprja se",
          "sense": "to show off",
          "word": "кипря се"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 8 82 2 0 4 2",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "to show off",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "naparovat se"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 8 82 2 0 4 2",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "to show off",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "pyšnit se"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 8 82 2 0 4 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to show off",
          "word": "sich brüsten"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 8 82 2 0 4 2",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to show off",
          "word": "ostentar"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1989, Graham Holderness, The Taming of the Shrew, page 112",
          "text": "In Miller's view the play is expressive of a peculiarly Renaissance vision of the harmonious marriage within the orderly society: 'its spirit derives from Elizabethan Puritanism's view of the household as an orderly place in whichc the marriage is consecrated not in the church but in the orderly procedures of domesticity ; in which obedience is required , not in order to preen the male pride of the father, but to restore order in a fallen world '",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1992, Philip H. Ennis, The Seventh Stream: The Emergence of Rocknroll in American Popular Music, page 39",
          "text": "New York nurtured and preened the most sophisticated audiences in the nation.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Alexandra Bell, Rising to the Deadline",
          "text": "Sorcha, who had quickly learned about the cynicism that's deeply engrained in the newspaper business, wrote up the whole development in the most glowing terms, with phrase after phrase of praise that preened the estate agents and developers into new realms of ecstasy.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To flatter."
      ],
      "id": "en-preen-en-verb-2915pBit",
      "links": [
        [
          "flatter",
          "flatter"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To flatter."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2002, David G. Campbell, The Crystal Desert: Summers in Antarctica",
          "text": "My two roommates are engineers who preen the diesels.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Jim Schollmeyer, Ted Leeson, Flies for Western Super Hatches, page 82",
          "text": "Preen the deer hair rearward around the hook shank, and take 3 tight thread wraps to secure it.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019, J.E. Franklin, Crouching at the Door",
          "text": "Now Prossiden's finger was brandished, and preened the air in front of Onascam's face with florid implications.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020, Rohit Pagare, After the Dark, page 124",
          "text": "He preened the registers, computer entries but of no avail.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To comb; to make orderly."
      ],
      "id": "en-preen-en-verb-RiXt0h1r",
      "links": [
        [
          "comb",
          "comb"
        ],
        [
          "orderly",
          "orderly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To comb; to make orderly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007, J. P. De Sales, The Coming of the Reichchild, page 162",
          "text": "Adjusting his spectacles on the bridge of his nose, he gently preened the bush with his pruners.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Hannah Graham, Beneath the Perfect World",
          "text": "He'd imagined he could see the whole world from there, whilst the people below tended to their window boxes and preened the rose bushes, making this idyllic village pretty for the tourists.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018, J.S. Monroe, The Riot Act",
          "text": "I ignored him and looked around, wondering who preened the conical fir trees on each ledge of the building.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To trim up, as trees."
      ],
      "id": "en-preen-en-verb-qA7Kt-3C",
      "links": [
        [
          "trim up",
          "trim up"
        ],
        [
          "tree",
          "tree"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To trim up, as trees."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "1 1 4 0 6 39 5 4 3 5 32",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Appearance",
          "orig": "en:Appearance",
          "parents": [
            "Perception",
            "Body",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2011, Brennan Pursell, The Spanish Match, page 26",
          "text": "He brushed and preened the marquis, front and back. “Lucky we are, Your Grace, no gashes that I see. But the beard is in a woeful state —”",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Dean MacCannell, The Ethics of Sightseeing, page 200",
          "text": "Clearly this is not heritage tourism development. Instead it recommends how to preen the city for the uncritical gaze of a kind of tourist who willingly accepts low-grade commercialized leisure.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Walter Jon Williams, The Rift",
          "text": "He'd built a lodge and preened the country, and imported or otherwise attracted the game, and then found that no one came.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020, Carys Jones, The List",
          "text": "A piece of human debris, usually plucked up and disposed of by the group of volunteers who pruned and preened the woods on a weekly basis.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To improve the appearance of; groom; prettify."
      ],
      "id": "en-preen-en-verb-4Yi35LYC",
      "links": [
        [
          "groom",
          "groom"
        ],
        [
          "prettify",
          "prettify"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, more generally) To improve the appearance of; groom; prettify."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pɹiːn/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-iːn"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-preen.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e8/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e8/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "preen"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 1-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms derived from Old French",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs",
    "Rhymes:English/iːn",
    "Rhymes:English/iːn/1 syllable",
    "en:Appearance"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "pren"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English pren",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "prēon"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English prēon",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*preunaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *preunaz",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "prjónn",
        "3": "",
        "4": "pin, knitting-needle"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic prjónn (“pin, knitting-needle”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "pryne",
        "3": "",
        "4": "needle, eel-spear"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish pryne (“needle, eel-spear”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*brew-",
        "4": "*brewn-",
        "5": "protrusion, tip, edge"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *brewn- (“protrusion, tip, edge”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "lt",
        "2": "briaunà",
        "3": "",
        "4": "edge"
      },
      "expansion": "Lithuanian briaunà (“edge”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "sq",
        "2": "brez",
        "3": "",
        "4": "belt, girdle"
      },
      "expansion": "Albanian brez (“belt, girdle”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Pfriem"
      },
      "expansion": "German Pfriem",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "prenen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English prenen",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "pren",
        "3": "",
        "4": "a preen"
      },
      "expansion": "pren (“a preen”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "pfriemen"
      },
      "expansion": "German pfriemen",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English pren, from Old English prēon, from Proto-Germanic *preunaz (compare Icelandic prjónn (“pin, knitting-needle”), Danish pryne (“needle, eel-spear”)), of uncertain origin, but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *brewn- (“protrusion, tip, edge”) (compare Lithuanian briaunà (“edge”), Albanian brez (“belt, girdle”)). Cognate with German Pfriem.\nThe verb is from Middle English prenen, from pren (“a preen”), akin to German pfriemen.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "preens",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "preen (plural preens)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A forked tool used by clothiers for dressing cloth."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "forked",
          "forked"
        ],
        [
          "tool",
          "tool"
        ],
        [
          "clothier",
          "clothier"
        ],
        [
          "dress",
          "dress"
        ],
        [
          "cloth",
          "cloth"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English dialectal terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide",
          "text": "She never seemed to want for siller; the house was as bright as a new preen, the yaird better delved than the manse garden; […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "pin"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "pin",
          "pin"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(dialectal) pin"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English dialectal terms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "bodkin; brooch"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "bodkin",
          "bodkin"
        ],
        [
          "brooch",
          "brooch"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(dialectal) bodkin; brooch"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pɹiːn/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-iːn"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-preen.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e8/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e8/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "dialectal"
      ],
      "word": "prin"
    }
  ],
  "word": "preen"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 1-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms derived from Old French",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs",
    "Rhymes:English/iːn",
    "Rhymes:English/iːn/1 syllable",
    "en:Appearance"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "preen oil"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "pren"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English pren",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "prēon"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English prēon",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*preunaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *preunaz",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "prjónn",
        "3": "",
        "4": "pin, knitting-needle"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic prjónn (“pin, knitting-needle”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "pryne",
        "3": "",
        "4": "needle, eel-spear"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish pryne (“needle, eel-spear”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*brew-",
        "4": "*brewn-",
        "5": "protrusion, tip, edge"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *brewn- (“protrusion, tip, edge”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "lt",
        "2": "briaunà",
        "3": "",
        "4": "edge"
      },
      "expansion": "Lithuanian briaunà (“edge”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "sq",
        "2": "brez",
        "3": "",
        "4": "belt, girdle"
      },
      "expansion": "Albanian brez (“belt, girdle”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Pfriem"
      },
      "expansion": "German Pfriem",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "prenen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English prenen",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "pren",
        "3": "",
        "4": "a preen"
      },
      "expansion": "pren (“a preen”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "pfriemen"
      },
      "expansion": "German pfriemen",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English pren, from Old English prēon, from Proto-Germanic *preunaz (compare Icelandic prjónn (“pin, knitting-needle”), Danish pryne (“needle, eel-spear”)), of uncertain origin, but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *brewn- (“protrusion, tip, edge”) (compare Lithuanian briaunà (“edge”), Albanian brez (“belt, girdle”)). Cognate with German Pfriem.\nThe verb is from Middle English prenen, from pren (“a preen”), akin to German pfriemen.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "preens",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "preening",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "preened",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "preened",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "preen (third-person singular simple present preens, present participle preening, simple past and past participle preened)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To pin; fasten."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "pin",
          "pin"
        ],
        [
          "fasten",
          "fasten"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To pin; fasten."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pɹiːn/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-iːn"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-preen.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e8/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e8/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "dialectal"
      ],
      "word": "prin"
    }
  ],
  "word": "preen"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 1-syllable words",
    "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms derived from Old French",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs",
    "Rhymes:English/iːn",
    "Rhymes:English/iːn/1 syllable",
    "en:Appearance"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prune"
      },
      "expansion": "prune",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "preen"
      },
      "expansion": "preen",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "proignier",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to trim the feathers with the beak"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French proignier (“to trim the feathers with the beak”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Variant of prune (by influence of preen above). Attested in Chaucer (c. 1395) in the variants preyneth, prayneth, proyneth, prunyht, pruneth, from Old French proignier (“to trim the feathers with the beak”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "preens",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "preening",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "preened",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "preened",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "preen (third-person singular simple present preens, present participle preening, simple past and past participle preened)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "primp"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To groom; to trim or dress the feathers with the beak."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "transitive",
          "transitive"
        ],
        [
          "intransitive",
          "intransitive"
        ],
        [
          "groom",
          "groom"
        ],
        [
          "trim",
          "trim"
        ],
        [
          "feather",
          "feather"
        ],
        [
          "beak",
          "beak"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(of birds, transitive, intransitive) To groom; to trim or dress the feathers with the beak."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of birds",
        "of birds"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English reflexive verbs",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1922, James Joyce, Ulysses",
          "text": "Mr Kernan halted and preened himself before the sloping mirror of Peter Kennedy, hairdresser. Stylish coat, beyond a doubt. Scott of Dawson street. Well worth the half sovereign I gave Neary for it.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance, e.g. in front of a mirror."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "attractive",
          "attractive"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(of people, intransitive, reflexive) To spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance, e.g. in front of a mirror."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of people",
        "of people"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "primp"
        },
        {
          "word": "smarten up"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "reflexive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1993, Scott Simmon, The Films of D W Griffith",
          "text": "His preening self-satisfaction, chest thrown forward as he settles into a chair in his mansion...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998 April 7, Neil Strauss, “Robert Pilatus, 32, Performer In Disgraced Band Milli Vanilli”, in The New York Times, →ISSN",
          "text": "Impressed by their looks and their dancing, but not their singing, Mr. Farian called them Milli Vanilli and recorded an album of lightweight, preening dance-pop under their name, using uncredited studio musicians.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004, Jude Deveraux, Counterfeit Lady",
          "text": "He preened under her compliments.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Mike Lofgren, The Party Is Over",
          "text": "The crowning tragedy—or sick joke—is that those who have postured and preened the most ostentatiously about their devotion to the Constitution have been the most indifferent to its destruction.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2016, Jeanne Williams, Daughter of the Sword",
          "text": "“Six look like dyin', and five dead,” preened the killer.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To show off, posture, or smarm."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "show off",
          "show off"
        ],
        [
          "posture",
          "posture"
        ],
        [
          "smarm",
          "smarm"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To show off, posture, or smarm."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1989, Graham Holderness, The Taming of the Shrew, page 112",
          "text": "In Miller's view the play is expressive of a peculiarly Renaissance vision of the harmonious marriage within the orderly society: 'its spirit derives from Elizabethan Puritanism's view of the household as an orderly place in whichc the marriage is consecrated not in the church but in the orderly procedures of domesticity ; in which obedience is required , not in order to preen the male pride of the father, but to restore order in a fallen world '",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1992, Philip H. Ennis, The Seventh Stream: The Emergence of Rocknroll in American Popular Music, page 39",
          "text": "New York nurtured and preened the most sophisticated audiences in the nation.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Alexandra Bell, Rising to the Deadline",
          "text": "Sorcha, who had quickly learned about the cynicism that's deeply engrained in the newspaper business, wrote up the whole development in the most glowing terms, with phrase after phrase of praise that preened the estate agents and developers into new realms of ecstasy.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To flatter."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "flatter",
          "flatter"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To flatter."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2002, David G. Campbell, The Crystal Desert: Summers in Antarctica",
          "text": "My two roommates are engineers who preen the diesels.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Jim Schollmeyer, Ted Leeson, Flies for Western Super Hatches, page 82",
          "text": "Preen the deer hair rearward around the hook shank, and take 3 tight thread wraps to secure it.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019, J.E. Franklin, Crouching at the Door",
          "text": "Now Prossiden's finger was brandished, and preened the air in front of Onascam's face with florid implications.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020, Rohit Pagare, After the Dark, page 124",
          "text": "He preened the registers, computer entries but of no avail.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To comb; to make orderly."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "comb",
          "comb"
        ],
        [
          "orderly",
          "orderly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To comb; to make orderly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007, J. P. De Sales, The Coming of the Reichchild, page 162",
          "text": "Adjusting his spectacles on the bridge of his nose, he gently preened the bush with his pruners.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Hannah Graham, Beneath the Perfect World",
          "text": "He'd imagined he could see the whole world from there, whilst the people below tended to their window boxes and preened the rose bushes, making this idyllic village pretty for the tourists.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018, J.S. Monroe, The Riot Act",
          "text": "I ignored him and looked around, wondering who preened the conical fir trees on each ledge of the building.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To trim up, as trees."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "trim up",
          "trim up"
        ],
        [
          "tree",
          "tree"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To trim up, as trees."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2011, Brennan Pursell, The Spanish Match, page 26",
          "text": "He brushed and preened the marquis, front and back. “Lucky we are, Your Grace, no gashes that I see. But the beard is in a woeful state —”",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Dean MacCannell, The Ethics of Sightseeing, page 200",
          "text": "Clearly this is not heritage tourism development. Instead it recommends how to preen the city for the uncritical gaze of a kind of tourist who willingly accepts low-grade commercialized leisure.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Walter Jon Williams, The Rift",
          "text": "He'd built a lodge and preened the country, and imported or otherwise attracted the game, and then found that no one came.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020, Carys Jones, The List",
          "text": "A piece of human debris, usually plucked up and disposed of by the group of volunteers who pruned and preened the woods on a weekly basis.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To improve the appearance of; groom; prettify."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "groom",
          "groom"
        ],
        [
          "prettify",
          "prettify"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, more generally) To improve the appearance of; groom; prettify."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pɹiːn/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-iːn"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-preen.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e8/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e8/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-preen.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "čistja si perata",
      "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
      "word": "чистя си перата"
    },
    {
      "alt": "鸟",
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
      "word": "用喙整理羽毛"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
      "word": "čistit si"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
      "word": "pudse"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
      "word": "sukia"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
      "word": "putzen"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
      "word": "cluimhrigh"
    },
    {
      "code": "km",
      "lang": "Khmer",
      "roman": "sɑɑsɑsət",
      "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
      "word": "សសិត"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "čístitʹsja",
      "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "чи́ститься"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "počístitʹsja",
      "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "почи́ститься"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "prixorášivatʹsja",
      "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "прихора́шиваться"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "prixorošítʹsja",
      "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "прихороши́ться"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "to groom (of birds)",
      "word": "putsa"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "šlechtit se"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "fintit se"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)",
      "word": "šňořit se"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)",
      "word": "herausputzen"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "prixorášivatʹsja",
      "sense": "to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "прихора́шиваться"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "prixorošítʹsja",
      "sense": "to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "прихороши́ться"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "kiprja se",
      "sense": "to show off",
      "word": "кипря се"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "to show off",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "naparovat se"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "to show off",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "pyšnit se"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to show off",
      "word": "sich brüsten"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to show off",
      "word": "ostentar"
    }
  ],
  "word": "preen"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (fc4f0c7 and c937495). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.