granny

Everyday

1. A friendly, informal word for your grandmother, the mother of your mum or dad. tree →
2. Used in some phrases for an old-fashioned or very careful style, like a «granny knot» or «granny glasses». tree →

In the lessons

In stories and everyday life it is a warm family word that tells the reader the speaker is a child or is close to the old lady. Phrases: «Granny's house», «stay with Granny», «granny flat» (a small home for an older relative next to the family house), «granny knot» (a weak, wrong reef knot), «granny smith» (a green apple).

Examples

• Granny bakes the best apple pie in the world. tree →
• We stay at Granny's house every summer holiday. tree →
• My granny knits me a new scarf every winter. tree →
• Granny lives in a granny flat at the back of our garden. tree →
• In the story, Little Red Riding Hood takes a basket to her granny. tree →
• Tie a reef knot, not a granny knot, or it will slip. tree →
• I have two grannies, one in Ireland and one in Canada. tree →
• Granny Smith apples are green and sour. tree →
• ‘It’s me, Granny, your little Golden-hood. tree →

Note

Plural «grannies» (y → ies). Written with a capital letter when used as a name: «Hi, Granny!», but small in «my granny». Informal; in formal writing use «grandmother». Other family words: «gran», «grandma», «nan», «nana». A «granny flat» is not a flat for every old person, it is an extra small home on a family's land.