1
2
a
: a person responsible for the feeding, exercising, and stabling of horses
b(1)
archaic
: manservant
(2)
: one of several officers of the English royal household
groomed; grooming; grooms
1
: to clean and maintain the appearance of (an animal)
especially
: to maintain the health and condition of the coat of (a horse, dog, etc.) by brushing, combing, currying, or similar attention
2
: to make neat or attractive
an impeccably groomed person
spent hours grooming the lawn
3
a
: to make (someone) ready for a specific objective : prepare
was being groomed as a presidential candidate
b
: to build a trusting relationship with (a minor) in order to exploit them especially for nonconsensual sexual activity
: to groom oneself
grooming in front of the mirror
Examples of groom in a Sentence
Verb
The horses are being groomed for the competition.
She spent hours grooming herself.
She always seems to be perfectly groomed and neatly dressed.
He is being groomed to take over the company.
Recent Examples on the Web
Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 6 Nov. 2025
Prosecutors said that visible proximity lets predators identify and target children who appear nearby, then use in-app messaging to groom or arrange contact — unless Snapchat’s location sharing is turned off or set to ghost mode and strict friend-only settings are enforced.
—Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 3 Nov. 2025
Liza Esquibias, PEOPLE, 7 Nov. 2025
Prosecutors allege that Farwell worked to groom Birchmore early on, pretending to befriend the girl 12 years his junior by doing test prep with her at the library and friending her on Facebook.
—Flint McColgan, Boston Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for groom
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Noun
The most painful moment, however, came when her groom shifted his focus to someone else entirely—his sister.
—Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 6 Nov. 2025
Prosecutors said that visible proximity lets predators identify and target children who appear nearby, then use in-app messaging to groom or arrange contact — unless Snapchat’s location sharing is turned off or set to ghost mode and strict friend-only settings are enforced.
—Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 3 Nov. 2025
Verb
What about your grooming routine?
—Liza Esquibias, PEOPLE, 7 Nov. 2025
Prosecutors allege that Farwell worked to groom Birchmore early on, pretending to befriend the girl 12 years his junior by doing test prep with her at the library and friending her on Facebook.
—Flint McColgan, Boston Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for groom
Cite this Entry
“Groom.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/groom. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
1
a
archaic
: a male servant
b
: a person in charge of horses
2
groom
2 of 2 verb1
: to clean and keep up the appearance of (as the coat of a horse or dog)
2
: to make neat, attractive, or acceptable
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