groom
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɡɹuːm/
rhymes: -uːm
Forms: form: grooms
form: grooming
form: groomed
form: groomed
Etymology: From Middle English grom, grome (“man-child, boy, youth”), of uncertain origin. Apparently related to Middle Dutch grom (“boy”), Old Icelandic grómr, gromr (“man, manservant, boy”), Old French gromme (“manservant”), and also to Middle Dutch grom (“fish guts”), Middle Low German grôm (“fish guts”), from the same Proto-Germanic root. Possibly from Old English *grōm, from Proto-West Germanic *grōm (“swollen belly, stomach tumour, womb-child, fish roe, fish guts”), from Proto-Germanic *grōaną (“to grow”).
Alternative etymology describes Middle English grom, grome as an alteration of gome (“man”) with an intrusive r (also found in bridegroom, hoarse, cartridge, etc.), with the Middle Dutch and Old Icelandic cognates following similar variation of their respective forms.
Senses: synonyms: primp
glosses: To attend to one's appearance and clothing.
examples: 2010 (April 20) "The Collection" s1e6 of TV series Justified
The wife didn't care about riding, but Owen did. Well, he cared about me. I went from doing everything — grooming, feeding, looking out — to being handed the reins of the most magnificent creatures ready to ride.
glosses: To care for (horses or other animals) by brushing and cleaning them.
examples: text: It appears that Broderick's seconds, although cool, brave men, were entirely without experience in arranging a duel, and did not know that a man should be groomed for one as carefully as a horse is groomed for a race.
ref: 1912, The Contest for California in 1861: How Colonel E.D. Baker Saved the Pacific States to the Union, page 51
glosses: To prepare (someone) for an event
examples: text: It is of special interest to note the subjects considered as important to those who are being groomed for top administrative posts
ref: 1953, The President's Report to the Board of Regents for the Academic Year page 146
text: 2002, Clone High episode 1 - "Escape to Beer Mountain: A Rope of Sand"
Our mission is to unfreeze those clones, send them back to high school, and secretly groom them to one day rule the world. Failure to do so could mean world leaders just keep getting worse.
text: 2009, Dani Johnson, Grooming the Next Generation for Success
text: 2012 (February 28) in "The Man Behind the Curtain" s3e7 of TV series Justified
I was the son he always wanted. He groomed me to take over someday, but now Sammy's got the houses, the cars, the money, the juice.
text: India is run by gerontocrats and epigones: grey hairs and groomed heirs.
ref: 2013 May 11, “What a waste”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8835, page 12:
text: 2023 in "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon" episode 5 "Deux Amours" regarding Laurent
Daryl "But he's gonna be safe? I'm afraid those nuns raised him a little -- a little soft."
Losang "He'll be well looked after. Nurtured and groomed... to be the leader he's destined to be."
glosses: To prepare (someone) for election or appointment.
examples: 2009, Suzanne Ost, Child Pornography and Sexual Grooming: Legal and Societal Responses
topics: law
glosses: To gain, or attempt to gain, the trust of a child or vulnerable person in order to take advantage of or exploit them, especially sexually (if under the age of consent).
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
software
glosses: In agile software development, to review and prioritize the items in the development backlog.
glosses: To prepare (a ski slope) for skiers by packing down the snow.
Derived terms: bridegroom
groomed
groomee
groomer
groomery
grooming
misgroom
overgroom
regroom