primp

[primp]
verb (used with object)
1.
to dress or adorn with care.
verb (used without object)
2.
to groom oneself carefully: The photographer waited while we primped.

Origin:
1795–1805; akin to prim1


1,2. preen, prettify, prink.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
primp (prɪmp) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb
to dress (oneself), esp in fine clothes; prink
 
[C19: probably from prim]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Primp is one of our favorite verbs.
So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:
to run away hurriedly; flee.
to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

primp
1801, probably an extension of prim (q.v.); cf. Scot. primpit (c.1739) "delicate, nice."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
It could also primp up its debt offer at the last minute.
As students primp and preen to wow their favorite colleges, there's one characteristic they can't control: their race.
Each day at the prison summer camp, the inmates primp as if they are on a first date.
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