grandma - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From grand- +‎ ma, after grandmother.[1]

grandma (plural grandmas)

  1. (informal) Grandmother.

grandmother (informal) — see also granny

grandma (third-person singular simple present grandmas, present participle grandma-ing or grandmaing, simple past and past participle grandmaed)

  1. (informal, rare, transitive) To address (someone) as “grandma”.

    • [c. 1890], Mary J[ane] Holmes, “Terrace Hill”, in Bad Hugh; or, The Diamond in the Rough (The Chimney Corner Series; 135), New York, N.Y.: F[rank] M[oore] Lupton, →OCLC, page 15, column 1:
      This Laura had died within a year of her marriage, but Lottie had claimed relationship to the family just the same, grandma-ing Mrs. Richards and aunty-ing the sisters. John, however, was never called uncle, except in fun.
    • 2007, Lauri Robinson, chapter 14, in A Wife for Big John, Adams Basin, N.Y.: The Wild Rose Press, →ISBN:
      “Gran-” Nancy started. / “Quit Grandma-ing me girl. […]” Grandma Wilson insisted.
    • 2017, Kristy Acevedo, chapter 21, in Contribute, Mendota Heights, Minn.: Jolly Fish Press, →ISBN, page 238:
      “He can be my doctor anytime.” / “Grandma, eww!” / “Oh, stop grandma-ing me. You know I hate that. Come introduce us.”

  2. (informal, rare, ambitransitive) To be or act as a grandmother to (someone).

    • 2002, Thomas L. Jackson, “Mission”, in In Any Given Moment, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 273:
      And what about Cliff working on cars and painting signs, and Wendy working nights to take care of that baby, and young Allen raking leaves for everyone, and Doris grandmaing folks, and wounded folks bouncing back to life . . . ?”
    • 2006, Jennifer Brown, “The Grill Drill”, in Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Maria Nickless, Elisa Morgan, Carol McAdoo Rehme, Chicken Soup for the Mother of Preschooler’s Soul: Stories to Refresh and Rekindle the Spirit of Moms of Little Ones (Chicken Soup for the Soul), Deerfield Beach, Fla.: Health Communications, Inc., →ISBN, section 8 (Through the Eyes of a Child), page 185:
      “I don’t want you to be a grandma.” / But why, I wondered, worried that he perceived some defect in my grandma-ing ability. Doesn’t he think I’ll be a good grandma?
    • 2011 February 15, Larry Troxel, “Grandma’ing”, in Poems, Prn, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 19:
      Each is grandma’s favorite child / For them, ever tireless and without guile / They have a special place in her heart / She makes grandma’ing a work of art.
    • 2013, Kelsey Timmerman, “The Starbucks Experience”, in Where Am I Eating? An Adventure Through the Global Food Economy, Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., →ISBN, part I (Coffee: Product of Colombia), page 17:
      Her apron looks like a black belt in grandma-ing.

  3. ^ “grandma, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.