/ priːn; NAmE / verb
1.
preen (yourself) (usually disapproving ) to spend a lot of time making yourself look attractive and then admiring your appearance :
[ vn ]
Will you stop preening yourself in front of the mirror?
[also v ]
2.
[ vn ] preen yourself (on sth) (usually disapproving ) to feel very pleased with yourself about sth and show other people how pleased you are
3.
[ v , vn ] preen (itself) ( of a bird ) to clean itself or make its feathers smooth with its beak
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WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English : apparently a variant of obsolete prune (based on Latin ungere anoint), in the same sense, associated with Scots and northern English dialect preen pierce, pin (because of the “pricking” action of the bird's beak).