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Prank vs Preen - What's the difference?

prank | preen |

In lang=en terms the difference between prank and preen

is that prank is to perform a practical joke on; to trick while preen is to pin; fasten.

As nouns the difference between prank and preen

is that prank is (obsolete) an evil deed; a malicious trick, an act of cruel deception while preen is a forked tool used by clothiers for dressing cloth.

As verbs the difference between prank and preen

is that prank is to adorn in a showy manner; to dress or equip ostentatiously while preen is to pin; fasten or preen can be (of birds) to groom; to trim or dress with the beak, as the feathers.

As an adjective prank

is (obsolete) full of gambols or tricks.

prank

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • (obsolete) An evil deed; a malicious trick, an act of cruel deception.
  • *, II.4.2.ii:
    • Hercules, after all his mad pranks upon his wife and children, was perfectly cured by a purge of hellebor, which an Antieyrian administered unto him.
  • A practical joke or mischievous trick.
  • * Shakespeare
    • His pranks have been too broad to bear with.
  • * Sir Walter Raleigh
    • The harpies played their accustomed pranks .
    Pranks may be funny, but remember that some people are aggressive.
    He pulled a gruesome prank on his sister.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * prankish * pranksome * prankster

    Verb

  • To adorn in a showy manner; to dress or equip ostentatiously.
  • * Spenser
    • In sumptuous tire she joyed herself to prank .
  • * 1748 , , B:II
    • And there a Sea?on atween June and May,
    Half prankt with Spring, with Summer half imbrown'd,
    A li?tle?s Climate made, where, Sooth to ?ay,
    No living Wight could work, ne cared even for Play.
  • * 1880 , For Spring, by Sandro Botticelli , lines 2–3
    • ''Flora, wanton-eyed
    ''For birth, and with all flowrets prankt and pied:
  • To make ostentatious show.
  • * M. Arnold
    • White houses prank where once were huts.
  • To perform a practical joke on; to trick.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2007, date=May 13, author=Karen Crouse, title=Still Invitation Only, but Jets Widen Door for Camp, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=“If someone’s pranking me,” Rowlands remembered thinking, “they’re going to great lengths to make it work.” }}
  • (slang) To call someone's phone and promptly hang up
    • Hey man, prank me when you wanna get picked up.
    I don't have your number in my phone, can you prank me?

    Synonyms

    (call and promptly hang up) missed call, missed-call

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Full of gambols or tricks.
    • (Webster 1913) English transitive verbs

    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)
  • A forked tool used by clothiers for dressing cloth.
  • (dialectal) pin
  • (dialectal) bodkin; brooch

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To pin; fasten.

    • 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)
  • (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
    • His preening self-satisfaction, chest thrown forward as he settles into a chair in his mansion...
  • * 2004 , Jude Deveraux, Counterfeit Lady
    • He preened under her compliments.
  • (UK, dialect, dated) To trim up, as trees.
    • (Halliwell)

    See also

    * primp

    Anagrams

    *