Word.ws English Dictionary

grin

/ɡɹɪn/

grin noun: a smile in which the lips are parted to reveal the teeth.

Noun (1)

grin (plural grins)

  1. A smile in which the lips are parted to reveal the teeth.
    • When the ceremony was finished a wide grin broke across his face, and it was that grin she saw, relieved and happy all at once.1997, Linda Howard, Son of the Morning, Simon & Schuster, page 364
    • When my son appeared at the door the next day with his schoolbag on his back, the Professor broke into a wide grin and opened his arms to embrace him.2003, Yoko Ogawa, The Housekeeper and the Professor

Verb

grin (third-person singular simple present grins, present participle grinning, simple past and past participle grinned)

  1. (intransitive) To smile, parting the lips so as to show the teeth.
    • Why do you grin? Did I say something funny?
    • ‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough! […] What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 15, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC
  2. (transitive) To express by grinning.
    • She grinned pleasure at his embarrassment.
    • Grinned horrible a ghastly smile.1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
  3. (dated, intransitive) To show the teeth, like a snarling dog.
    • The pangs of death do make him grin.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
    • They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so...1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC
  4. (transitive) To grin as part of producing a particular facial expression, such as a smile or sneer.
    • He grinned a broad smile when I told him the result.
    • He grinned a cruel sneer when I begged him to stop.

Noun (2)

grin (plural grins)

  1. (obsolete) A snare; a gin.

grin meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

grin in Tamil

To smile showing the teeth
இளி iḷi

grin in Marathi

To smile showing the teeth
विचकणे vicakṇe, बत्तिशी दाखवणे battiśī dākhavṇe

grin in Urdu

دانت دکھائی, کھسیاہٹ, کھسیانا, مسکرانا

grin in Bengali

দাঁত বের করে হাসা, চওড়া হাসি
More languagesFewer languages
grin in Malayalam
ഇളിക്കുക, ഗോഷ്ടികാണിക്കുക, ചിരിവരുത്തുക, വിലക്ഷണമായി ചിരിക്കുക
grin in Kannada
ಹಲ್ಲು ಕಿರಿತ, ತಿಳಿಗೇಡಿತನದ ನಗು, ಕೀನಿಕೆ, ಪಲ್ಗಿರಿ
grin in Malay
sengihan, tersengih

Examples of grin in a sentence

  • "Mid-Lent, and the Enemy grins," remarked Selwyn as he started for church with Nina and the children.1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IV, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
  • They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely.1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:

All 40 example sentences with grin

Forms of grin

Noun
pluralgrins
alternative form (obsolete)gren
Verb
third-person singular presentgrins
present participlegrinning
past participlegrinned
pastgrinned

Past tense of grin: grinned

Plural of grin: grins

Origin of grin

From Middle English grinnen, from Old English grennian, from Proto-West Germanic *grannjōn, from Proto-Germanic *granjōną. Related to groan. Compare to Middle High German grennen (“to mutter, complain”) and Danish grine (“to show one's teeth, to laugh”)

From Middle English grin, grinne, grine, from Old English grin (“snare, noose”), of uncertain origin, but probably from the merger of Proto-West Germanic *garni and *garnī (“intestine”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *garniz, *garnō (“guts, intestine”). Related to English yarn.

Words formed from grin

Words that rhyme with grin

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about grin

What does grin mean?
Grin means a smile in which the lips are parted to reveal the teeth.
What is grin in Tamil?
Grin in Tamil is இளி (iḷi). See Grin meaning in Tamil.
How do you use grin in a sentence?
"Mid-Lent, and the Enemy grins," remarked Selwyn as he started for church with Nina and the children.
What part of speech is grin?
Grin can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce grin?
Grin is pronounced /ɡɹɪn/.
What is the plural of grin?
The plural of grin is grins.

Words near grin in the dictionary

  1. grimthorpes
  2. grimthorping
  3. Grimwood
  4. Grimwoods
  5. grimy
  6. grin
  7. grin and bear it
  8. grin from ear to ear
  9. grin like a Cheshire cat
  10. grin like a mule eating briars
  11. Grinage

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: grin (page history and authors); grin (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); grin (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); grin (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); grin (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). 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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-grin.ogg.

Cite this entry: “grin.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/grin. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.