Definition of "girning" [girning]

• A light-hearted competition in which people girn (make elaborate faces) through a horse collar; most popular in rural parts of England. (noun)

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• "The water-hen gave one mighty final tug and toppled into the burn; while the weasel viciously showed me his teeth, and then stole slowly up the bank to the rose-bush, whence, "girning," he watched me lift his exhausted victim from the water, and set off with her for the schoolhouse."
• "The water-hen gave one mighty final tug and toppled into the burn; while the weasel viciously showed me his teeth, and then stole slowly up the bank to the rose-bush, whence, "girning," he watched me lift his exhausted victim from the water, and set off with her for the school-house."
• "I never thought I'd end up girning at my dinner like a mad pirate."