nana
Americannoun
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Chiefly Northeastern U.S. grandmother; grandma.
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Gulf States. godmother.
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Chiefly Southeastern U.S. a child's nursemaid; nanny.
noun
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slang a fool
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slang the head
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slang to become very angry
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slang mad; insane
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of nana
1835–45; nursery word; cf. nanny
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.
See Examples For:
"As a kid, I was used to watching these wonderful black-and-white films with my nana - 'Cor blimey, guv’na, let’s push through the war'," Graham joked, adopting an exaggerated Cockney accent.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2024
While Ana wasn’t quite aware of who Haley was, she seemed happy to be there, and said she looked up to her nana.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
I spent one single Thanksgiving at a restaurant in 2002 with my mom, dad, nana and brother.
From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2023
Here’s what we actually need: A superhero movie about a badass nana with a secret revolutionary past.
From New York Times ● Aug. 16, 2023
“Is it the same as how my nana keeps her head covered with a wig or a big scarf? She’s Orthodox. Is it like that?”
From "Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story" by Nora Raleigh Baskin
You see nanas and grandads, mums, dads, girls, boys - whoever it is - walking around with their black-and-white tops on.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2025
Later, Saint Phalle made voluptuous, decorated figural sculptures she dubbed nanas, rude French slang for girls.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2022
Campaigners ranged from the "anti-fracking nanas" - a group of grandmothers who were prepared to risk arrest - to high-profile activists, such as the fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2019
We grew up in different neighborhoods but within the same community—our babcis and nanas and omas cooked different foods and spoke different languages, but we had the same deep sense of mysterious, precious, beloved identity.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2018
This is a very large pine-apple— Ter-lalu besar sa-biji nanas ini.
From A Manual of the Malay language With an Introductory Sketch of the Sanskrit Element in Malay by Maxwell, William Edward, Sir
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.
