preen
Example Sentences
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These days, pastel and fluorescent birds groom, preen and bicker in enclosures behind the home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026
Maybe it’s happiest tucked into a cast-iron skillet, going golden and jammy while the showier types preen in their baskets.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2025
It might be a bank holiday in the UK, but for the designers, publicists and PAs, it'll be an extraordinarily busy day as they preen and prepare their stars to walk the grand staircase.
From BBC ● May 4, 2025
Foster wasn’t the only coach who could preen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2024
He reaches around to preen his wing as a group of preschoolers leans over the wharf railing, dropping rocks off the side.
From "Rules" by Cynthia Lord
Lomakin occasionally overdoes Lieutenant Kelly’s wide-eyed bungling, but Carpenter preens suitably in Confederate uniform.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 29, 2023
A few blocks away preens Bergdorf Goodman, the beautiful princess whose holding company, Neiman Marcus, muscled recently into the Hudson Yards, like a watchful mother-in-law moving into the guest cottage.
From New York Times ● Nov. 27, 2019
A background performer in a hat draped with ivy sways to disco music while another in gold chain flaps preens in his fringed jacket.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2019
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
“Methinks she preens her feathers just for me,” Guildenstern boasted.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
He preened, he hugged, he shook hands and hobnobbed with legends and politicians.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2024
So if you happen to raise an orphan like we did with Alfie, that desire to be preened is very relatable.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2023
Hagler’s Marvelous nickname was bestowed by a Lowell, Mass., journalist when he fought there as an amateur and preened in the ring, emulating Muhammad Ali.
From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2021
Another activist, Joy Villa, preened in the background in a floor-length red gown emblazoned with the word “freedom.”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 11, 2019
On the far side of the pond, peacocks strutted and preened.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
Mr. Turturro brings a savory humor and pathos to the scene, while Mr. Giamatti’s preening lecturing has a contrasting comic officiousness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
When they film themselves preening on their phones, with the images projected onto the giant mirrors, Claire and Solange use filters that turn their sallow, pinched faces into plump-lipped, high-cheekboned ones that suggest Kim Kardashian.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
This is not revelation: The defense secretary is well known for preening for the cameras with a level of self-regard that would embarrass most supermodels.
From Salon ● Mar. 13, 2026
Many were motionless, while others perched on rocks preening their feathers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2025
Dimple could see her practically preening for the crowd.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
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