I. grin 1 /ɡrɪn/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle grinned , present participle grinning ) [intransitive]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: grennian ]
1 . to smile widely
grin at
She grinned at me, her eyes sparkling.
grin broadly/widely
He walked out of the pool, grinning widely.
grin like
He was grinning like an idiot (=grinning in a silly way) .
grin from ear to ear (=grin very widely)
2 . grin and bear it to accept an unpleasant or difficult situation without complaining, usually because you realize there is nothing you can do to make it better
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THESAURUS
▪ smile to make your mouth curve upwards, in order to be friendly or because you are happy or amused:
She smiled when she read his email.
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‘I’m delighted to meet you,' George said, smiling at the girl.
▪ grin to give a big smile:
The two boys were grinning at each other.
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The coach was grinning from ear to ear (=was grinning a lot) when the team scored.
▪ beam to give a big happy smile for a long time, because you are very pleased or proud:
She beamed with pride as her son collected the award.
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The wedding couple were outside beaming at the camera.
▪ smirk to smile in an unpleasant way, for example because you are pleased about someone else’s bad luck or because you know something that someone else does not know:
The children smirked when the teacher dropped all the books on the floor.
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What are you smirking about?
▪ simper disapproving written to smile in a silly and annoying way:
a group of simpering schoolgirls
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I hated the way she simpered every time a man spoke to her.
II. grin 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
a wide smile:
He came into the room with a friendly grin on his face.
wide/broad/big etc grin
‘Of course,’ he agreed with a wide grin.
⇨ wipe the grin off sb’s face at ↑ wipe 1 (7)
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ a big/huge etc grin
He walked towards me with a big grin.
▪ a wide/broad grin
‘It was great!’ she shouted, with a wide grin.
▪ a toothy grin (=one that shows your teeth a lot)
The man gave a large toothy grin.
▪ a mischievous grin
'Let's play a trick on her’ he suggested with a mischievous grin.
▪ a silly grin
‘Wipe that silly grin off your face!’ the teacher shouted.
▪ a friendly grin
Sam greeted her with a friendly grin.
▪ a delighted grin
‘I've managed to fix it!’ she said, with a delighted grin.
▪ a sheepish grin (=an embarrassed grin because you have done something silly or wrong)
"Sorry", he said with a sheepish grin.
▪ a sly grin
A sly grin crossed his face.
■ verbs
▪ give a grin
Bill read the letter and gave a sudden grin.
▪ break/split into a grin
The old man’s face broke into a grin.
▪ flash somebody a grin (=smile quickly at someone)
Flashing me a grin over her shoulder, she got into the car.
▪ a grin spreads (=a wide smile covers someone's face)
A self-satisfied grin spread across his face.
▪ a grin widens (=someone starts smiling even more)
Marcus's amused grin widened.
■ phrases
▪ a grin on sb’s face
He looked at Sarah, a big grin on his face.