preen
verb (used with object)
(of animals, especially birds) to trim or dress (feathers, fur, etc.) with the beak or tongue.
preens
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present tense formof preen (3rd person singular).present tense
Used to describe things happening now or regularly.
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.
Brianne purrs and preens even as she expresses skepticism, and whines and demurs when she might bare real claws.
From New York Times ● Mar. 3, 2023
Sometimes his comic instincts do pay off, as when Thor, Jane and friends crash a neo-Olympian, Vegas-ready paradise called Omnipotence City, where Crowe’s Zeus preens, prances and speaks in a hilariously awful Greek accent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2022
It swims and preens and eats, sure, but it will never migrate over the Korean Peninsula, or use its amazing plumage to flag down a mate as it would in the wild.
From Slate ● Feb. 11, 2019
The economist preens; the Shakespearean knows that “all scholarly endeavor was eventually . . . tucked . . . into endless paper beds, installed within tombstone covers and seldom disturbed.”
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 9, 2018
He preens on the railing, raising his beak majestically, fluffing his feathers.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
