preen

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

“When you have that double concentration, it really focuses you. It forces you to not lay back, becomes quite athletic. You don’t show, point, preen or strut, you do. That’s always the sweet spot.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2024

When dinner was done, the fire would blaze on; Frightful would sit on the foot post of the bed and preen and wipe her beak and shake.

From "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

Lomakin occasionally overdoes Lieutenant Kelly’s wide-eyed bungling, but Carpenter preens suitably in Confederate uniform.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 29, 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

He smiles and dances and points and preens, turning each field-goal attempt into a telenovela.

From New York Times ● Dec. 14, 2021

Robotnik preens, seethes, and contorts his face to spit out condescending sarcasm with all the psychology of a Saturday morning cartoon baddie.

From Slate ● Feb. 14, 2020

He preens on the railing, raising his beak majestically, fluffing his feathers.

From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman

He preened, he hugged, he shook hands and hobnobbed with legends and politicians.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2024

Jeudy pranced and preened in a squabble with Smith, the former Panthers star receiver and current NFL Network analyst, prior to the Broncos’ 19-8 loss at Kansas City last week.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 2023

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

The performances viewers see are not mimed to a studio recording that was made in advance and preened to perfection with editing.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2021

She preened, then touched the gland near the top of her tail and lubricated her dry feathers with its oils.

From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

And there’s the leering, preening Rupert Mannion from “Ted Lasso” — multimillionaire soccer team owner, inveterate philanderer and incurably vindictive divorcé.

From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026

The ducks are sitting or preening at the water, or about to take flight.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

But it’s tricky to maintain a balance between eliciting sympathy for the central duo and making sport of them, in all their preening garishness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2025

Many were motionless, while others perched on rocks preening their feathers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2025

No questions, no interviews—but there was certainly a lot of preening.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman