PREEN • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Preen

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verb

Preen v. t. (past & past part. preened; pres. part. preening)

To dress with, or as with, a preen; to trim or dress with the beak, as the feathers; said of birds.

To trim up, as trees. (Prov. Eng.)

Hence: To dress (oneself) carefully or stylishly; to primp.

To pride (oneself) on one's accomplishments; to congratulate (oneself).

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Etymology of 'Preen'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Preen" Quotes from Famous Books

... slight rustling among the boughs of an oak in the other hedge, as of wings against twigs: it was a woodpigeon, better game than a rabbit. He would, I knew, first look round before he settled himself to preen his feathers on the branch, and, if everything was still while that keen inspection lasted, would never notice me. This is their habit—and the closer you are underneath them the less chance of their ...

— The Amateur Poacher • Richard Jefferies

... that gets something for nothing. I batten on the mangy hides of the workingmen. I don't have to gamble. I don't have to work. My father left me enough of his winnings.—Oh, don't preen yourself, my boy. Your folks were just as bad as mine. But yours lost, and mine won, and so you plow in ...

— The Valley of the Moon • Jack London

... on the girl in the blue dress. She did not observe that she herself was dancing opposite Andy, while Pendrilla Lusk dragged with drooping head in the line across from the amiably grinning Doss Provine. Finding herself suddenly in the lead and successful, Huldah began to preen her feathers a bit. She withdrew a hand from the girl on her right to arrange the small string of blue glass beads around ...

— Judith of the Cumberlands • Alice MacGowan

Words linked to "Preen" : preen gland, arrange, triumph, overdress, dress up, primp, rig out, get dressed, deck out, make clean, get up, gussy up, gloat, clean, set up