Word.ws English Dictionary

grinning and bearing it

grinning and bearing it is the present participle and gerund of grin and bear it.

Meaning of grin and bear it

Verb

grin and bear it (third-person singular simple present grins and bears it, present participle grinning and bearing it, simple past grinned and bore it, past participle grinned and borne it)

  1. (idiomatic) To endure a difficult or disagreeable situation with good humor.
    • They made me work the Saturday of our wedding anniversary; what could I say? I just had to grin and bear it.

Questions about grinning and bearing it

What is grinning and bearing it the present participle and gerund of?
Grinning and bearing it is the present participle and gerund of grin and bear it.

Words near grinning and bearing it in the dictionary

  1. grinneth
  2. grinnie
  3. grinnies
  4. grinnin'
  5. grinning
  6. grinning and bearing it
  7. grinning from ear to ear
  8. grinning like a mule eating briars
  9. grinningly
  10. grinnings
  11. grinny

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: grinning and bearing it (page history and authors); grin and bear it (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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