girn
1 Americanverb (used with or without object)
noun
verb
-
to snarl
-
to grimace; pull grotesque faces
-
to complain fretfully or peevishly
Etymology
Origin of girn
C14: a variant of grin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She'll come to hell efter me to girn at me, an' set them on me wi' their reid het taings, and curse me.
From Robert Falconer by George MacDonald
To "girn in a widdy" is to laugh or girn when a halter is round the neck—meaning that it is no joke to be placed in a difficult or dangerous position.
From The Proverbs of Scotland by Alexander Hislop
It maks guid fellows girn an' gape, Wi' chokin dread; An' Robin's bonnet wave wi' crape For Mailie dead.
From Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Robert Burns
"I won't girn any more if you'll court me," she promised.
From The Foolish Lovers by St. John G. (St. John Greer) Ervine
He can girn a laugh as well ’s onybody at a raight divil’s jest.
From Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
