v.
- (of a bird) tidy and clean its feathers with its beak.
- (of a person) devote effort to making oneself look attractive.
-
(preen oneself)
congratulate or pride oneself.
Derivative
Etymology
ME: appar. a var. of obs. prune (based on L. ungere ‘anoint’), in the same sense, assoc. with Scots and north. Engl. dial. preen ‘pierce, pin’ (because of the ‘pricking’ action of the bird's beak).
