The sun is high in the heavens; the birds are twittering and preening their soft feathers in the yellow light that Phoebus flings broadcast upon the loving earth.
A soft wind is sighing; beneath its touch the young and tender branches are swaying lightly to and fro; all the "feathery people of mid-air" are preening their downy plumage and murmuring sleepy hymns ere sinking to their rest.
A great many of the birds merely sat preening their white plumage, of which they appeared to be not a little proud.
The fat widow in the weepers, who is preening herself like a great pouter pigeon, is trying to marry the wizened old gentleman in the bamboo chair.
Can the showy creature beside him, preening herself under her gay sunshade, be the same overwhelmed, shrunk, tear-drenched Cecilia whom at their last meeting he had folded in so solemn an embrace?
Here he will soon be joined by the female, and they will swim about trying to hide their anxiety by preening their feathers or pretending to feed.
But the phalaropes rise automatically, clear the crest of the crasher, and are down again, preening their feathers or snatching dainties with the utmost unconcern.
They go regularly and often to their baths, and after bathing they spend several minutes carefully preening their feathers.
He saw Michael at the far end of the room, preening his feathers under the kind eyes of a lady who palpably admired him.
So he went about ever after, preening himself that his smooth face gave him youth, and strutting inordinately because some of the women he knew told him he looked like a boy of twenty-five--instead of a man in his forties.
A look of solemn pride came portentously on his shaven square old face, he rolled his head in his stand-up collar, like a turkey-cock preening himself.
Some pigeons were strutting andpreening their feathers in the pools of sunlight between the shadows of the plane-trees.
Bushes across the river stood round and bright-coloured out of a milky haze; the wood-smoke went up blue and straight; and his doves cooed, preening their feathers in the sunlight.
Preening my feathers became a pleasant task once more.
Mine host came out and eyed them, preening the point of his beard; and Rodriguez sat his horse and looked at him.
At that moment he heard an explosion of laughter close to him, and looking up he saw a large Parrot perched on a tree, who was preening the few feathers he had left.
I am laughing because in preening my feathers I tickled myself under my wings.
She would nuzzle into the plumage, smoothing the ruffled feathers with her lips, just like she was the old peacock preening himself.
Just went on crooning and preening and stroking down the ruffled feathers, giving a little sob every now and then as she came to a place where they were badly mussed up.
Strutting and preening she went, the very reincarnation of the royal bird upon her bosom, the very living, breathing spirit of "peacock-iness.
She was only a beautiful peacock preeningher feathers and sighing for homage.
When she entered the car, and saw besides herself several young girls prinked in their best, who were also going to the Christmas-tree, she felt a sort of amused pride, that all their prinking and preening was in vain.
Even the black cat, at her feet, ceased preeninghis fur.
Beyond it, the sea was laughing and flashing and preening and alluring, like a beautiful, coquettish woman.
He had thought the talk rather good and clearly thought out and had come out of the house exhilarated and secretly preening himself with the thought that he had talked unusually forcefully and well.
Even that is better than the newer fashion of scarcely preening the feathers at all," observed another of the group.
I am thankful to say all my little hens care for nothing beyond playing at the Bower and preening their feathers," said an affectionate bower bird mother.
He had rinsed his feathers in a pool of the little stream down in the hollow, and now he was squatting flat on his belly on the ground in a soft bed of brown leaves, preening and primping his plumes with his little white, conical bill.
Flocks of this Gull may often be seen standing upon the mud-flats or level sandy reaches, preening their plumage, and waiting, it may be, for a turn of the tide that may bring some particular food of which they are in quest.
After feeding, the entire flock will often stand for a long time on a certain piece of the shore, sleeping and preening plumage, but even on these occasions they are somewhat restless, and it is rare to see all still at once.
The so-called scientific spirit, buried for ages beneath the débris of human conjecture, was painfully emerging and preening its wings for flight.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "preening" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
