groom
verbEtymology
From Middle English grom, grome (“man-child, boy, youth”), of uncertain origin. Apparently related to Middle Dutch grom (“boy”), Old Icelandic grómr, gromr (“man, manservant, boy”), Old French gromme (“manservant”), and also to Middle Dutch grom (“fish guts”), Middle Low German grôm (“fish guts”), from the same Proto-Germanic root. Possibly from Old English *grōm, from Proto-West Germanic *grōm (“swollen belly, stomach tumour, womb-child, fish roe, fish guts”), from Proto-Germanic *grōaną (“to grow”). Alternative etymology describes Middle English grom, grome as an alteration of gome (“man”) with an intrusive r (also found in bridegroom, hoarse, cartridge, etc.), with the Middle Dutch and Old Icelandic cognates following similar variation of their respective forms.
8 senses
- 1To attend to one's appearance and clothing.
- 2To care for (horses or other animals) by brushing and…
- 3To care for (horses or other animals) by feeding…
- 4To prepare (someone) for an event
- 5To prepare (someone) for election or appointment.
- 6To gain, or attempt to gain, the trust of a child or…
- 7In agile software development, to review and prioritize…
- 8To prepare (a ski slope) for skiers by packing down the snow.
To attend to one's appearance and clothing.
To 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 — to being handed the reins of the most magnificent creatures ready to ride.
- Rabbits show dominance by demanding to be groomed, while cats show dominance by grooming the other. A perfect relationship 💕2026 July 5, @contemprainn.bsky.social, Bluesky (post), archived from the original on 06 Jul 2026:
Obsolete To care for (horses or other animals) by feeding, currying and tending to them.
To 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 groomed for a race.1912, The Contest for California in 1861: How Colonel E.D. Baker Saved the Pacific States to the Union, page 51
To 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 posts1953, The President's Report to the Board of Regents for the Academic Year page 146
- 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. Failure to do so could mean world leaders just keep getting worse.
4 more examples
- 2009, Dani Johnson, Grooming the Next Generation for Success
- 2012 (February 28) in "The Man Behind the Curtain" s3e7 of TV series Justified I was the son he always wanted. He groomed me to take over someday, but now Sammy's got the houses, the cars, the money, the juice.
- India is run by gerontocrats and epigones: grey hairs and groomed heirs.2013 May 11, “What a waste”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8835, page 12:
- 2023 in "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon" episode 5 "Deux Amours" regarding Laurent Daryl "But he's gonna be safe? I'm afraid those nuns raised him a little -- a little soft." Losang "He'll be well looked after. Nurtured and groomed... to be the leader he's destined to be."
Law To 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
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences, Software In agile software development, to review and prioritize the items in the development backlog.
To prepare (a ski slope) for skiers by packing down the snow.