/ɡɹuːm/
Origin1604, short for bridegroom (“husband-to-be”), from Middle English brydgrome, alteration (with intrusive r) of earlier bridegome (“bridegroom”), from Old English brȳdguma (“bridegroom”), from brȳd (“bride”) + guma (“man, hero”). In Middle English, the second element was re-analyzed as or influenced by grom, grome (“attendant”). Guma derives from Proto-Germanic *gumô (“man, person”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰm̥mō; it is cognate to Icelandic gumi (cf. Icelandic brúðgumi) and Norwegian gume and, ultimately, human.
- A man who is about to marry.
- A person who looks after horses.
“Toward the end of the war, Benoit was sent off on his own with forged papers; he wound up working as a horse groom at a chalet in the Loire valley. Mandelbrot describes this harrowing youth with great”
- One of several officers of the English royal household, chiefly in the lord chamberlain's department.
“the groom of the chamber; the groom of the stole”
- archaicA male servant, or more generally, a common man.
“The needy groom, that never finger'd groat,
Would make a miracle of thus much coin …”
- A brushing or cleaning, as of a dog or horse.
“Give the mare a quick groom before you take her out.”
- To attend to one's appearance and clothing.
- transitiveTo care for (horses or other animals) by brushing and cleaning them.
“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 — t”
- transitiveTo prepare (someone) for an event
“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 gr”
- transitiveTo prepare (someone) for election or appointment.
“It is of special interest to note the subjects considered as important to those who are being groomed for top administrative posts”
“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. Failur”
“2009, Dani Johnson, Grooming the Next Generation for Success”
- transitiveTo 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).
“2009, Suzanne Ost, Child Pornography and Sexual Grooming: Legal and Societal Responses”
- transitiveIn agile software development, to review and prioritize the items in the development backlog.
- transitiveTo prepare (a ski slope) for skiers by packing down the snow.
- countable, uncountableAn English surname originating as an occupation for a servant.
- countable, uncountableA town in Carson County, Texas, United States.
Formsgrooms(plural) · grooms(present, singular, third-person) · grooming(participle, present) · groomed(participle, past) · groomed(past) · Grooms(plural) · Groome(alternative)