grandma
/ˈɡɹænmɑː/
grandma noun: grandmother.
Noun
grandma (plural grandmas)
- Grandmother.
- Any elderly woman, regardless of if she has grandchildren.
Verb
grandma (third-person singular simple present grandmas, present participle grandma-ing or grandmaing, simple past and past participle grandmaed)
- To address (someone) as “grandma”.
- This Laura had died within a year of her marriage, but Lottie had claimed relationship to the family just the same, grandma-ing Mrs. Richards and aunty-ing the sisters. John, however, was never called uncle, except in fun.[c. 1890], Mary J[ane] Holmes, “Terrace Hill”, in Bad Hugh; or, The Diamond in the Rough (The Chimney Corner Series; 135), New York, N.Y.: F[rank] M[oore] Lupton, →OCLC, page 15, column 1
- “But Grandma—,” I said. […] “And don’t you go ‘Grandma-ing’ me neither,” she said.2003, Catherine Kimrey, chapter 14, in When We All Get to Heaven, Washington, D.C.: Washington Writers’ Publishing House, →ISBN, page 92
- To be or act as a grandmother to (someone).
- And what about Cliff working on cars and painting signs, and Wendy working nights to take care of that baby, and young Allen raking leaves for everyone, and Doris grandmaing folks, and wounded folks bouncing back to life . . . ?”2002, Thomas L. Jackson, “Mission”, in In Any Given Moment, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 273
- “I don’t want you to be a grandma.” / But why, I wondered, worried that he perceived some defect in my grandma-ing ability. Doesn’t he think I’ll be a good grandma?2006, Jennifer Brown, “The Grill Drill”, in Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Maria Nickless, Elisa Morgan, Carol McAdoo Rehme, Chicken Soup for the Mother of Preschooler’s Soul: Stories to Refresh...
Proper noun capitalized: Grandma
Grandma
- An unfriendly and disparaging way of addressing an elderly woman whose name is unknown.
grandma meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
grandma in Hindi
- दादी, दादी जी
grandma in Tamil
- பாட்டி
grandma in Marathi
- grandmother (informal) — see also granny
- आजी ājī
grandma in Urdu
- دادی, نانی
More languagesFewer languages
- grandma in Telugu
- బామ్మ
- grandma in Punjabi
- ਦਾਦੀ ਜੀ
- grandma in Nepali
- हजुरमा
- grandma in Arabic
- جَدَّة jadda, تِيتَة tīta
- grandma in Malay
- nek
- grandma in Thai
- ย่า yâa, ยาย yaai
Examples of grandma in a sentence
- “Gran-” Nancy started. / “Quit Grandma-ing me girl.[…]” Grandma Wilson insisted.2007, Lauri Robinson, chapter 14, in A Wife for Big John, Adams Basin, N.Y.: The Wild Rose Press, →ISBN:
- “He can be my doctor anytime.” / “Grandma, eww!” / “Oh, stop grandma-ing me.2017, Kristy Acevedo, chapter 21, in Contribute, Mendota Heights, Minn.: Jolly Fish Press, →ISBN, page 238:
- Each is grandma’s favorite child / For them, ever tireless and without guile / They have a special place in her heart / She makes grandma’ing a work of art.2011 February 15, Larry Troxel, “Grandma’ing”, in Poems, Prn, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 19:
- Her apron looks like a black belt in grandma-ing.2013, Kelsey Timmerman, “The Starbucks Experience”, in Where Am I Eating? An Adventure Through the Global Food Economy, Hoboken, N.J.: John...
Forms of grandma
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | grandmas |
| alternative form | granma |
| alternative form | gran'ma |
| alternative form | gramma |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | grandmas |
| present participle | grandma-ing |
| present participle | grandmaing |
| past participle | grandmaed |
| past | grandmaed |
Origin of grandma
From grand- + ma, after grandmother.
Words formed from grandma
Phrases with grandma
- Grandma Moses
- everyone and his grandma
- everybody and his grandma
- teach grandma to suck eggs
- everybody and their grandma
- taught grandma to suck eggs
- teaches grandma to suck eggs
- teaching grandma to suck eggs
- taught grandma how to suck eggs
- teaches grandma how to suck eggs
- teaching grandma how to suck eggs
Questions about grandma
- What does grandma mean?
- Grandma means grandmother.
- What is grandma in Hindi?
- Grandma in Hindi is दादी, दादी जी. See Grandma meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use grandma in a sentence?
- “Gran-” Nancy started. / “Quit Grandma-ing me girl.[…]” Grandma Wilson insisted.
- What part of speech is grandma?
- Grandma can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce grandma?
- Grandma is pronounced /ˈɡɹænmɑː/.
- What is the plural of grandma?
- The plural of grandma is grandmas.
Words near grandma in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: grandma (page history and authors); Grandma (page history and authors); grandma (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); grandma (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); grandma (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); grandma (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); grandma (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); grandma (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-grandma.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-grandma.wav.
Cite this entry: “grandma.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/grandma. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.