Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Grimace
Gri-mace′
(grĭm′ĭs or grĭ-mās′)
, Noun.
[F., prob. of Teutonic origin; cf. AS.
grīma
mask, specter, Icel. grīma
mask, hood, perh. akin to E. grin
.] A distortion of the countenance, whether habitual, from affectation, or momentary and occasional, to express some feeling, as contempt, disapprobation, complacency, etc.; a smirk; a made-up face.
Moving his face into such a hideous grimace, that every feature of it appeared under a different distortion.
Addison.
☞ “Half the French words used affectedly by Melantha in Dryden’s ‘Marriage a-la-Mode,’ as innovations in our language, are now in common use: chagrin, double-entendre, éclaircissement, embarras, équivoque, foible, grimace, naïvete, ridicule. All these words, which she learns by heart to use occasionally, are now in common use.”
I. Disraeli.
Gri-mace′
,Verb.
I.
To make grimaces; to distort one's face; to make faces.
H. Martineau.
Webster 1828 Edition
Grimace
GRIMA'CE
, n.1.
A distortion of the countenance, from habit, affectation or insolence.2.
An air of affection.