grin

noun
/ɡɹɪn/

Etymology

From Middle English grin, grinne, grine, from Old English grin (“snare, noose”), of uncertain origin, but probably from the merger of Proto-West Germanic *garni and *garnī (“intestine”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *garniz, *garnō (“guts, intestine”). Related to English yarn.

  1. inherited from *granjōną
  2. inherited from *grannjōn
  3. inherited from grennian
  4. inherited from grinnen

Definitions

  1. A smile in which the lips are parted to reveal the teeth.

    • When the ceremony was finished a wide grin broke across his face, and it was that grin she saw, relieved and happy all at once.
    • When my son appeared at the door the next day with his schoolbag on his back, the Professor broke into a wide grin and opened his arms to embrace him.
  2. To smile, parting the lips so as to show the teeth.

    • Why do you grin? Did I say something funny?
    • ‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough! […] What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’
  3. To express by grinning.

    • She grinned pleasure at his embarrassment.
    • Grinned horrible a ghastly smile.
  4. + 3 more definitions
    1. To show the teeth, like a snarling dog.

      • The pangs of death do make him grin.
    2. To grin as part of producing a particular facial expression, such as a smile or sneer.

      • He grinned a broad smile when I told him the result.
      • He grinned a cruel sneer when I begged him to stop.
    3. A snare

      A snare; a gin.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for grin. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA