Translations

3 languages
Русский
By meaning 1
to groom (of birds):
Deutsch
By meaning 3
to groom (of birds):
to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people):
to show off:

Examples

3 sentences

  1. Topping off the performance with a backflip, the dancer preened in the applause.

    swolesuki · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. A duck will preen its feathers many times over the course of the day.

    AlanF_US · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. The bird preened its feathers.

    Amastan · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Meaning

8 senses

  1. (ambitransitive)To groom; to trim or dress the feathers with the beak.

    putzen

    чи́ститьсяčístitʹsja, почи́ститьсяpočístitʹsja, прихора́шиватьсяprixorášivatʹsja

    dress or groom with elaborate care

  2. (intransitive)To show off, posture, or smarm.

    sich brüsten

  3. (intransitive, reflexive)To spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance, e.g. in front of a mirror.

    herausputzen, zurechtmachen, aufbretzeln

    прихора́шиватьсяprixorášivatʹsja, прихороши́тьсяprixorošítʹsja

More meanings 5

  1. (transitive)To pin; fasten.

  2. (transitive)To flatter.

  3. (transitive)To comb; to make orderly.

  4. (transitive)To trim up, as trees.

  5. (broadly, transitive)To improve the appearance of; groom; prettify.

Origin

From Middle English pren, from Old English prēon, from Proto-Germanic *preunaz (compare Ic

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.

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”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

preens, preening, preened, preened

regular · Lesson

Base formpreen · to preen
3rd person singularpreens
Present participlepreening
Past simplepreened
Past participlepreened

Tenses

preen · preened · will preen · have preened

Point at a form to see it in a sentence.Tap a form to see it in a sentence.

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theypreen
he, she, itpreens

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave preened
he, she, ithas preened

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill preen

Past simpleLesson

all personspreened

Synonyms

49 synonyms
To show off, posture, or smarm:galleryA2flexfluff one's feathersswaggeraura farmboulevardiercut a wide swathcut it fatcut roundexhibitionizefigure awayflamboastflauntfloss
To spend time making oneself attractive and admiring…:primpsmarten up
To flatter:strokeB2flatterC1sootheB1jollypuffbrush up tocollogueflatterizeglaverglozelay it on thickmake fair weatherpalaverspeak well of
Close in meaning

Word family

8 related words
Relatedprimp
Derivedpreen oilallopreenallopreeningoutpreenpreenerpreeninglyunpreened

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
predominatepreeminentC2preemptivepreexistprefab

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

preen — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto