grinned; grinning
: to draw back the lips so as to show the teeth especially in amusement or laughter
grinner
noun
plural grins
: a facial expression produced by grinning especially in pleasure or amusement
a happy grin
She grew into a nimble young girl of seven winters, a thoughtful girl with shining brown eyes and a wide grin …—
Louise Erdrich
Louise ErdrichI wanted to wipe the grin off his face [=make him stop smiling.]
Examples of grin in a Sentence
Verb
She continued to tease her brother, grinning wickedly.
grinned at the kids' fooling around in the pool
Recent Examples on the Web
Samanth Subramanian, The Dial, 14 Oct. 2025
Panahi grins when moments of physical comedy land.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2025
Tianwei Zhang, Footwear News, 12 Oct. 2025
Then the evil grin loses its enthusiasm, gradually working its way to a toothless pucker.
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 11 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for grin
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Verb
The minister grinned, refused to commit himself, and then stood up for a round of photographs.
—Samanth Subramanian, The Dial, 14 Oct. 2025
Panahi grins when moments of physical comedy land.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2025
Noun
Still, despite dominating the global conversation this year, few actually know the full story behind the fluffy figurine with a grin of spikey teeth.
—Tianwei Zhang, Footwear News, 12 Oct. 2025
Then the evil grin loses its enthusiasm, gradually working its way to a toothless pucker.
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 11 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for grin
Cite this Entry
“Grin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grin. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
grin
verb
grinned; grinning
: to draw back the lips so as to show the teeth especially in laughter
grin
noun
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