girn

[ gurn ]

/ gɜrn /

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verb (used with or without object), noun Scot.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby girn

girl next door, girl-o, Girls' Brigade, girl scout, Girl Scouts of the United States of America, girn, giro, girolle, giron, Girona, Gironde

Other definitions for girn (2 of 2)

girn²

[ gurn ]

/ gɜrn /

noun, verb (used with object) Scot.

grin².

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use girn in a sentence

She'll come to hell efter me to girn at me, an' set them on me wi' their reid het taings, and curse me.
Robert Falconer|George MacDonald
The girn, my informant said, was never out its face, and it yammered on night and day.
Folk Lore|James Napier
Can He no shift it frae the tae airm to the tither, but the bairn maun girn?
The Elect Lady|George MacDonald
And he gave a girn, that stretched his mouth from ear to ear.
The Life of Mansie Wauch|David Macbeth Moir

I thought all the sheep-heads were looking at one another, and then girn-girning at me.
The Life of Mansie Wauch|David Macbeth Moir

British Dictionary definitions for girn

girn

/ (ɡərn, ɡɜːn) /

verb (intr) Scot and Northern English dialect

to snarl

to grimace; pull grotesque faces

to complain fretfully or peevishly

Word Origin for girn

C14: a variant of grin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012