be grinning like a Cheshire cat

To be smiling smugly or mischievously. The term was popularized by the character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I knew he had a prank planned for April Fools' Day when he arrived at work and was grinning like a Cheshire cat. A: "Dad's grinning like a Cheshire cat, isn't he?" B: "Oh yeah. Watching you try to fix the engine all by yourself is his entertainment for the day!" Justin was grinning like a Cheshire cat when he came out of the boss's office, so I bet you he got the promotion.

See also: cat, Cheshire, grin, like

Cheshire cat

One who is smiling smugly or mischievously. The term was popularized by the character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I knew he had a prank planned for April Fools' Day when he arrived at work grinning like a Cheshire cat. Justin sure looked like a Cheshire cat when he came out of the boss's office, so I bet you he got the promotion. A: "Dad's smiling like a Cheshire cat, isn't he?" B: "Oh yeah. Watching you try to fix the engine all by yourself is his entertainment for the day!"

grin like a Cheshire cat

To smile smugly or mischievously. The term was popularized by the character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I knew he had a prank planned for April Fools' Day when he arrived at work grinning like a Cheshire cat. Our dad's really handy, so he grins like a Cheshire cat whenever one of us says we're going to fix something. Justin grinned like a Cheshire cat when he came out of the boss's office, so I bet you he got the promotion.

See also: cat, Cheshire, grin, like

smile like a Cheshire cat

To grin very broadly and persistently, especially in a smug, mischievous, or self-satisfied manner. The term was popularized by the character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a cat with the ability to disappear whose wide smile would remain after the rest of it had vanished. I knew he had a prank planned for April Fools' Day when he arrived at work smiling like a Cheshire cat. My dad sat on the porch and smiled like a Cheshire cat as he watched me try to fix the engine all by myself, as I had insisted.

smiling like a Cheshire cat

Fig. smiling very broadly. (Alludes to a grinning cat in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.) There he stood, smiling like a Cheshire cat, waiting for his weekly pay.

grin like a Cheshire cat

Smile broadly, especially in a self-satisfied way. For example, John ended the set with a beautiful serve, an ace, and couldn't help grinning like a Cheshire cat . The ultimate origin of this expression, appearing in print since the late 1700s, is disputed, but its most famous exponent was Lewis Carroll, in whose Alice's Adventures in Wonderland the grinning cat gradually vanished from view, with its grin the last part to vanish.

See also: cat, Cheshire, grin, like

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

be grinning like a Cheshire cat

be smiling like a Cheshire cat

If someone is grinning like a Cheshire cat, or is smiling like a Cheshire cat, they are smiling broadly, usually in a foolish way. Standing on the door step and grinning like a Cheshire Cat was Bertie Owen. He came indoors, smiling like a Cheshire cat, expecting to be congratulated. Note: You can also say that someone has a Cheshire cat grin or a Cheshire cat smile. I complained, but Jennifer stood there with her Cheshire cat grin. A beaming Steve stood in the background, nodding his head up and down and wearing a Cheshire Cat smile on his face. Note: The Cheshire cat is a character from `Alice in Wonderland' (1865) by the English writer Lewis Carroll. This cat gradually disappears until only its huge smile remains. The idea for the character may have come from Cheshire cheese, which was made in the shape of a smiling cat. Alternatively, it may have come from hotel signs in Cheshire, UK, many of which had a picture of a smiling lion on them.

See also: cat, Cheshire, grin, like

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

grin like a Cheshire cat

have a broad fixed smile on your face.

The Cheshire cat with its broad grin is best known for its appearance (and disappearance) in Lewis Carroll 's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ( 1865 ), but the expression, which is of uncertain origin, is recorded from the first half of the 19th century.

See also: cat, Cheshire, grin, like

grin like a Cheshire ˈcat

smile widely in a foolish way or as if you are very pleased with yourself: She sat there grinning like a Cheshire cat while we tried to put the tent up.The Cheshire Cat is a character in Lewis Carroll’s story, Alice in Wonderland.

See also: cat, Cheshire, grin, like

grin like a Cheshire cat

To smile broadly. The origin of this expression, which was well known in the eighteenth century, has been lost. Most explanations involve the traditional Cheshire County cheese, sold in the shape of a wheel and, perhaps, once so molded that it resembled a cat’s grinning face. Another theory holds that it refers to a Cheshire forest ranger named Caterling who frightened off poachers with his fierce grin. At any rate, the term has been appearing in print since the late 1700s in the works of such writers as William Thackeray and Charles Lamb, as well as in the work of its most famous exponent, Lewis Carroll.

See also: cat, Cheshire, grin, like

Cheshire cat

Having a perpetual, mischievous grin, one that is often indistinguishable from smugness. Although the Cheshire cat is best known as a character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, it appeared much earlier in popular English culture, so the phrase may have originally referred to cheese made in the country of Cheshire and molded roughly to resemble a grinning cat. Lewis Carroll's feline had the ability to disappear until only its smile remained. The cheese variety would be sliced from hind end to front, which similarly gave the impression that its smile—if cheese showed emotion—would be the last to go.