Meaning & use
grandfather
The father of one's father or mother.
See it in a sentence
My grandfather taught me how to fish when I was six years old.
She inherited her grandfather's old pocket watch after he passed away last spring.
A note on using this word
As a verb, 'to grandfather in' means to exempt someone or something from a new rule because it existed before the rule took effect.
Words with a similar meaning
grandpa
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
Another way to use it
2. verb
To exempt an existing person, business, or situation from a new law or regulation.
Employees hired before the policy change were grandfathered in under the old benefits plan.
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