girn

1
[ gurn ]
/ gɜrn /

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

grin1.

QUIZZES

DO YOU KNOW THIS VOCABULARY FROM "THE HANDMAID'S TALE"?

"The Handmaid's Tale" was required reading for many of us in school. Everyone else has probably watched the very popular and addictive TV show. Do you remember this vocabulary from the book, and do you know what these terms mean?
Question 1 of 10
decorum
the act of or need for making up one's mind.
dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress, etc.
a company of singers, especially an organized group employed in church service.
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Words nearby girn

girlhood, girlie, girlish, girls' brigade, girly, girn, giro, girolle, giron, girona, gironde

Definition 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. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for girn

  • And he gave a girn, that stretched his mouth from ear to ear.

    The Life of Mansie Wauch|David Macbeth Moir

  • The girn, my informant said, was never out its face, and it yammered on night and day.

    Folk Lore|James Napier

  • She has a way of glowerin' a body and giving a bit of a girn to her mouth.

    The Northern Iron|George A. Birmingham

  • 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

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