self-groomingn.
/ˌsɛlfˈɡruːmɪŋ/, U.S. /ˌsɛlfˈɡrumɪŋ/ 1. The measures and care taken by a person to present himself or herself in a clean, neat, or smart manner, and to look his or her best.
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1875 J. G. Holland Sevenoaks xviii. 248 She was indebted to her skill in self-‘grooming’.
1922 Jrnl. Educ. 9 Nov. 452/2 The latest..is a course in self-grooming for girls in the high school.
1965 R. Bissell Still Circling Moose Jaw vi. 75 Drip-dry linen/terylene Bermuda shorts..which give the self-grooming benefit of England's polyester fiber.
2017 Argus Weekend (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 30 Apr. (Entertainment section) 2 It takes a strict daily routine to keep me from looking like a vagabond. Self grooming is essential if you want to avoid frightening small children.
2. Cleaning of the fur, skin, feathers, etc., of an animal by the animal itself (often as contrasted with such cleaning performed by another animal as part of a social relationship). Frequently attributive.
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1928 N. Amer. Veterinarian 9 41 Hair that enters the digestive tract of cats is prehended in the cat's self-grooming operations.
1935 R. M. Yerkes & A. W. Yerkes in C. Murchison Handbk. Social Psychol. xxi. 1030 In the howling monkeys there is much self-grooming, but rarely is the activity mutual.
1985 R. Keiper Assateague Ponies ii. 25 Grooming maintains the quality of the coat, and consists of auto- or self-grooming actions where the animal itself performs the actions, and/or mutual grooming.
2017 Washington Post (Nexis) 16 Mar. t18 Cats have dry saliva from self-grooming, which can trigger a big sneeze when you sniff and nuzzle a cat!
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1875