Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Preen |
PreenVerb1. Clean with one's bill, of birds. 2. Pride or congratulate (oneself) for an achievement. 3. Dress or groom with elaborate care; "She likes to dress when going to the opera". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "preen" was first used: sometime in the late 14th century. (references) |
Synonyms: PreenSynonyms: congratulate (v), dress (v), plume (v), pride (v), primp (v). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Preen |
| English words defined with "preen": Preened, Preening. (references) |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | A monkey helping preen a donkey in the Galapagos Islands. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Play | Caption |
 | Hair dryer; hair blower; blower; blow; dryer; dry; fan; heat; primp; deck out; doll up; dress up; fix up; groom; gussy up; preen; prepare; prink; slick; smarten; spiff; spruce; titivate. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Preen" is generally used as a lexical verb (base form) -- approximately 56.67% of the time. "Preen" is used about 30 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 56.67% | 17 | 85,106 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 43.33% | 13 | 97,576 |
| Total | 100.00% | 30 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "preen": preen gland ♦ preen oneself ♦ preen oneself on. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
preen | 97 |
killer preen weed | 4 |
green preen | 4 |
preen n green | 2 |
control preen weed | 2 |
preen wood | 2 |
fashion preen | 2 |
green lawn preen | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "preen"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | pastron pendët me sqep, ndreqem para pasqyrës, mburrem (blow one's own trumpet, brag, brag about, flatter oneself that, gasconade, glory, pride, splurge, swell, talk through one's hat). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | تأنق (doll up, dude oneself up, elegance, flourish, mannerism, smarten, spruce, spruce oneself, stylishness, swank, titivate, titivation), جمل نفسه. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | стягам (accouter, accoutre, bind, brace, compact, constrain, constrict, do up, gripe, hold in, hoop, impact, lace, lace up, lock, pack, pinch, screw up, straiten, tense, tighten, trim, truss), чистя с клюн, гордея се (boast, glory, pride oneself), нагласям се, нагиздвам се, надувам се (be arrogant, blow up, fill, show off, swell with importance, take on), подреждам (adjust, arrange, assort, compose, dispose, do up, plash, pleach, process, put in order, seriate, snug, sort out, tidy, trim). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | parádit se (overdress), rovnat si. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | سنجاق سینه (Brooch), خودرااراستن , بخودبالیدن , بامنقاروزبان خودرااراستن . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | se pomponner (prettify oneself, prink), se lisser les plumes. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | putzen (attire, brush, brush down, clean, decorate, do, furbish, groom, plaster, polish, roughcast, snuff, to clean, trim, wipe). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | καθαρίζω με το ράμφοσ. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | ל"תיפות (smarten), ל"תקשט (adorn oneself, primp, prink). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | tű (indicator, needle, pin, stylus), gombostű (pin), dísztű, értéktelen dolog (nothingness, punk, refuse). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | lisciare col becco. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | jesheenaghey (adorn, adornment, bedeck, decorate, dress, embellish, emblazon, garnish, painting, painting trade, prank, renovation, set, titivate). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | eenpray envaidecer-se, atavair-se (prink), aperalter-se, alisar (basil, comb, dab, dub, fettle, grind, level, make smooth, planish, prink, rake, rake up, scrape, sleek, smarm, smooth). (various references) se gãti (array, doll, mum, perk up, prank, prink oneself up, Spruce), gãti (attire, caparison, cook, doll, dress, end, fig out, prank, prepare, rig, Spruce, trim), ciuguli (nibble, nip, Peck, pick, pick up, piddle). (various references) гордиться собой, прихорашиваться (primp, smarten up, spruce up, titivate). (various references) udesiti (arrange, key, load, organize, redecorate, regulate, rig out, tune, tune up), doterati se (groom, primp, smarten up, spruce up, titivate). (various references) limpiarse (clean oneself, clean out, take on, wash), arreglarse (adapt, come to terms, fend for oneself, freshen oneself up, freshen up, get along, get by, make out, make shift, manage, posh oneself up, prim oneself up, shake down, smarten, smarten up, tidy, tidy up, titivate, trim up, work out). (various references) putsa (clean, furbish, Grout, plaster, shine, trim). (various references) tüylerini düzeltmek (plume), kendine çeki düzen vermek (primp), gaga ile düzeltmek. (various references) шпилька (barb, nip, pin, tenon, wisecrack), приколювати шпилькою. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Old French | 900-1400 | poroindre. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "preen": preenact, preenacted, preenacting, preenacts, preened, preener, preeners, preening, preenrollment, preenrollments, preens. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "preen": outpreen. (additional references) | |
Words containing "preen": outpreened, outpreening, outpreens. (additional references) | |
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"Preen" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: dreen, Epryn, freen, kreen, oreen, paren, peran, Perben, peren, pereon, perin, Perne, Pernem, Perren, peruano, Perun, perveen, perven, pheen, pleen, poreen, Porybny, prain, prane, Praun, prean, preb, Preben, precene, precn, pree, preem, preeo, preer, pref, Pregel, pregent, preien, prein, prej, Prejean, preke, prelent, premen, premeno, pren, prene, preng, prenn, prent, preo, preon, prepent, presen, Presenz, presn, preten, preun, preux, prev, preveen, preven, prevn, prex, prezen, priden, priken, prine, prion, prizen, proan, proun, prowen, Prydein, pryn, pryne, pyrene, pyrenee, qreen, reen. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "preen" (pronounced prē"n) |
| 3 | -r ē" n | Citrine, green, latrine, Moreen, onscreen, screen, sunscreen, Treen. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-e-n-p-r" | |
-1 letter: erne, neep, peen, peer, pree. | |
-2 letters: ere, ern, nee, pee, pen, per, ree, rep. | |
-3 letters: en, er, ne, pe, re. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-e-n-p-r" | |
+1 letter: opener, penner, pereon, preens, premen, pyrene, reopen, repent, repine. | |
+2 letters: epergne, erepsin, openers, peering, penners, penster, percent, pereion, perinea, perpend, perpent, pioneer, prebend, precent, preeing, preened, preener, premune, prename, present, preteen, pretend, prevent, propene, pyrenes, reopens, repanel, repents, repined, repiner, repines, ripened, ripener, serpent, spencer, spender, terpene. | |
+3 letters: aperient, besprent, creeping, dampener, deepener, earphone, empyrean, encipher, endpaper, ensphere, entrepot, epergnes, ephedrin, erepsins, erumpent, expander, expender, expunger, hereupon, inexpert, insphere, isoprene, leporine, naperies, neoprene, nephrite, outpreen, pandered, panderer, parcener, parented, parvenue, pelerine, penciler, pensters, penuries, peperoni, percents, peregrin, perigean, perilune, perineal, perineum, permeant, peroneal, perpends, perpents, personae, pertness, petering, petronel, pilsener, pineries, pioneers, piperine, pondered, ponderer, prebends, precents, preclean, preenact, preeners, preening, prenames, prenomen, prentice, prepense, prerenal, prerinse, presence, presents, pressmen, preteens, pretence, pretends, pretense, preunite, prevents, propenes, propense, prudence, prunelle, pureeing, pureness, pyroxene, reopened, repanels, repented, repenter, repetend, repiners, repinned, replevin, replunge, repugned, respoken, response, resupine, ripeners, ripeness, serpents, spearmen, speering, spencers, spenders, spermine, supermen, terpenes, terpenic, trephine, unexpert, unsphere, viperine. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)50 72 65 65 6E |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).--. .-. . . -. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010000 01110010 01100101 01100101 01101110 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)P r e e n |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0050 0072 0065 0065 006E |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)5084717180 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Images: Slideshow | 5. Images: Photo Album 6. Sounds 7. Usage Frequency 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Orthography 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
