From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpreenpreen /priːn/ verb [intransitive, transitive] 1 HBAif a bird preens or preens itself, it cleans itself and makes its feathers smooth using its beak2 DCBto spend time making yourself look tidier and more attractivepreen yourself a girl preening herself in the mirror3 SHOW OFFto look proud and feel pleased because of something you have donepreen yourself He enjoyed the applause, preening himself like a pop star.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
preen• Capshaw was at the window, preening.• Mist hung over the water and the huge concourse of duck swam and ducked and preened.• The rest of the time he preened a lot and stretched often.• Her island was peopled with plumed parrots, preening dodos, psychedelic land crabs.• I was so proud of him, and maybe he preened himself a little, too!• The ratbird climbed on and began to preen its fur unconcernedly.• Alistair sniffed, but he preened too.• Ducks preened where raisins had dried.preen yourself• She no longer combed and preened herself.• The keepers dunk the penguins in water to help remove the down and to encourage the birds to preen themselves.• There were mirrors everywhere in which we preened ourselves as we became prince and princesse, duc and duchesse.• I was so proud of him, and maybe he preened himself a little, too!• Even lightly-oiled birds were dying as they ingested oil while attempting to preen themselves clean.• In other ducks courting males may also preen themselves in certain phases of their displays.• Make the others envious of him, Lais, so that Karl will preen himself in his glory.• Evening fell early over Lydia's garden while the rest of the valley preened itself in the setting sun.preen yourself• She no longer combed and preened herself.• The keepers dunk the penguins in water to help remove the down and to encourage the birds to preen themselves.• There were mirrors everywhere in which we preened ourselves as we became prince and princesse, duc and duchesse.• I was so proud of him, and maybe he preened himself a little, too!• Even lightly-oiled birds were dying as they ingested oil while attempting to preen themselves clean.• In other ducks courting males may also preen themselves in certain phases of their displays.• Make the others envious of him, Lais, so that Karl will preen himself in his glory.• Evening fell early over Lydia's garden while the rest of the valley preened itself in the setting sun.Origin preen (1400-1500) Probably from Old French proignier; → PRUNE1 