Was he actually preening himself because of what she had said?

All the men were preening as if they had just come out of church.

The two old women looked at each other and preened.

Even under the circumstances, I could see him preen a little.

She could almost have laughed at the way he preened himself.

I was so proud of him, and maybe he preened himself a little, too!

He preened as she rolled over on top of him.

At first, their guard was down and they'd start to preen.

Now we know what elephants look like when they preen.

I preened myself in the light of so splendid a son.

I'd like to pause there for just a second and preen, if I may.

There was something inside her that wanted to preen and ask what else he liked.

His extended hand suddenly goes up to preen what little hair he has left.

So I thought, not without some degree of preening satisfaction.

They preened for him in a small park across from the soup kitchen.

The Prince preened in the mirror on the far wall.

The calculation had paid off, but there was no time to preen.

He did not take her meaning, of course, and preened with vanity instead.

In little groups they huddle against the bank and preen.

I decided, What the hell, might as well enjoy it, and let myself preen a little bit.

But too much of the choreography involved little more than preening.

He says that he's looking for birds preening or doing something which makes a good composition.

I preened a bit as a large pink pitcher was set in front of me.

Storey looked as if he was getting ready to preen.

You are not there to preen yourself and pretend to be clever.

Fly off and preen yourself with the bones of fishes!

They can't wait forever for you to finish preening yourself.

So get to it and stop preening yourself!

But the food is really secondary to being seen here, so be sure to preen yourself like a peacock in case of paparazzi.

"Don't preen yourselves in front of me," she said.

"Well, don't preen yourself, because I labelled you."

Sucking up to Oyrus, floating around, preening yourself," she shot back, her thin face twisted with dislike.

'If you don't stop preening yourself, I'll think you're going to take mistresses, and I'm not dead yet.'

It really is not good enough for you to preen yourself in this way while Britain continues to suffer from the consequences of a largely uneducated workforce.

--Oh, don't preen yourself, my boy.

"An army more than twice as large as any we can raise is burning its way through Arbonne," Urt' snapped, glaring at Bertran, "and you seek praise like a vain child, preening yourself on small triumphs of diplomacy."