grimalkin (grimalkin)

[Also, and appar. orig., gray malkin, The fox and the cat, as they travell'd one day, With moral discourses cut shorter the way; "Tis great," says the fox, "to make justice our guide!" "How godlike is mercy!" grimalkin replied. Cunning ham, Fox and Cat. Self-love, grimalkin of the human heart, Is ever pliant to the master's art; Soothed with a word, she peacefully withdraws, And sheathes in velvet her obnoxious claws. O. W. Holmes, Terpsichore. A strange grimalkin , which was prowling under the parlor window, took to his heels, clambered hastily over the fence, and vanished. Hawthorne, Seven Gables, xix. grimaskt, n. [A var. of grimace , simulating mask.] A grimace. A Woman's Conquest (1671). grime (grim), n. [ grim , prob. of Scand. origin, Dan. grime , a streak, a stripe (> grimet , streaked, striped), = Sw. dial. grim a , a spot or smut on the face (cf. MD. grimsel , grijmsel , soot, smut (Kilian), grimmelen , soil, begrime; LG. grimmelig, in grim me lig , soiled, dirty), = Fries. grime , a dark mark on the face, also a mask, = AS. grim a , a mask, vizor, = Icel. grim a , a kind of hood or cowl. It is not certain that all these words belong to one root.] Foul matter; dirt; soil; foulne , especially of a surface; smutti IMG:content-2680.png:[blocks in formation] Shak ., Lear, ii. 3. Radetski, grimed with sweat and dust, had come back from one of the attacks, and was leaning panting against a rock. Arch . Forbes , Souvenirs of some Continents, p. 134. grimily (gri'mi-li), adv . In a grimy manner or condition; foully.