From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Grimace \Gri*mace"\ (gr[i^]m"[i^]s or gr[i^]*m[=a]s"), n. [F.,
prob. of Teutonic origin; cf. AS. gr[imac]ma mask, specter,
Icel. gr[imac]ma mask, hood, perh. akin to E. grin.]
A distortion of the countenance, whether habitual, from
affectation, or momentary and occasional, to express some
feeling, as contempt, disapprobation, complacency, etc.; a
smirk; a made-up face.
[1913 Webster]
Moving his face into such a hideous grimace, that every
feature of it appeared under a different distortion.
--Addison.
[1913 Webster]
Note: "Half the French words used affectedly by Melantha in
Dryden's `Marriage a-la-Mode,[rsquo] as innovations in
our language, are now in common use: chagrin,
double-entendre, ['e]claircissement, embarras,
['e]quivoque, foible, grimace, na["i]vete, ridicule.
All these words, which she learns by heart to use
occasionally, are now in common use." --I. Disraeli.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Grimace \Gri*mace"\, v. i.
To make grimaces; to distort one's face; to make faces. --H.
Martineau.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
grimace
n 1: a contorted facial expression; "she made a grimace at the
prospect" [syn: {grimace}, {face}]
v 1: contort the face to indicate a certain mental or emotional
state; "He grimaced when he saw the amount of homework he
had to do" [syn: {grimace}, {make a face}, {pull a face}]
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