Preen vs Clean - What's the difference?
preen | clean |
A forked tool used by clothiers for dressing cloth.
(dialectal) pin
(dialectal) bodkin; brooch
(of birds) To groom; to trim or dress with the beak, as the feathers.
To show off, posture, or smarm.
* 1993 , Scott Simmon, The Films of D W Griffith
* 2004 , Jude Deveraux, Counterfeit Lady
(UK, dialect, dated) To trim up, as trees.
Free of dirt or impurities or protruberances.
#Not dirty.
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#*
#*:Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean . ¶ There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
#In an unmarked condition.
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#(lb) Allowing an uninterrupted flow over surfaces, without protrusions such as racks or landing gear.
#Empty.
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#(lb) Having relatively few impurities.
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Free of immorality or criminality.
#Pure, especially morally or religiously.
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#*(Bible), (Psalms) li.10:
#*:Create in me a clean heart, O God.
#* (1809-1892)
#*:That I am whole, and clean , and meet for Heaven.
#Not having used drugs or alcohol.
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# Without restrictions or penalties, or someone having such a record.
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#(lb) Not in possession of weapons or contraband such as drugs.
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Smooth, exact, and performed well.
:
(lb) Cool or neat.
:
(lb) Being free of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
:
Which doesn’t .
:
Free from that which is useless or injurious; without defects.
:
Free from restraint or neglect; complete; entire.
*(Bible), (w) xxiii.22:
*:When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of corners of thy field.
Well-proportioned; shapely.
:
Ascended without falling.
Removal of dirt.
(weightlifting) The first part of the event clean and jerk in which the weight is brought from the ground to the shoulders.
To remove dirt from a place or object.
To tidy up, make a place neat.
(climbing) To remove equipment from a climbing route after it was previously lead climbed.
To make things clean in general.
(curling) To brush the ice lightly in front of a moving rock to remove any debris and ensure a correct line; less vigorous than a sweep.
Fully and completely.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
, title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=1
In transitive terms the difference between preen and clean
is that preen is to pin; fasten while clean is to tidy up, make a place neat.As an adjective clean is
Free of dirt or impurities or protruberances.As an adverb clean is
fully and completely.preen
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) pren, from (etyl) ‘edge’, Albanian brez ‘belt, girdle’). The verb is from (etyl) prenen, from .Alternative forms
* (l) (dialectal)Noun
(en noun)Etymology 2
Variant of prune (by influence of preen above) Attested in Chaucer (c. 1395) in the variants preyneth, prayneth, proyneth, prunyht, pruneth , from (etyl) .Verb
(en verb)- His preening self-satisfaction, chest thrown forward as he settles into a chair in his mansion...
- He preened under her compliments.
- (Halliwell)
See also
* primpAnagrams
*clean
English
(wikipedia clean)Adjective
(er)Synonyms
* (not dirty) * (empty)Antonyms
* dirty * uncleanDerived terms
* clean as a hound's tooth * * clean sheet * clean sweep * cleanliness * cleanly * come clean * lick clean * uncleanNoun
(en noun)- This place needs a clean .
Verb
(en verb)- Can you clean the windows today?
- Clean your room right now!
- She just likes to clean . That’s why I married her.
Synonyms
* See alsoDerived terms
* clean someone’s clock * clean out * clean up * cleaner * housecleanAdverb
(er)citation, passage=The huge square box, parquet-floored and high-ceilinged, had been arranged to display a suite of bedroom furniture designed and made in the halcyon days of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when modish taste was just due to go clean out of fashion for the best part of the next hundred years.}}