pursiness
English
Etymology
pursy + -ness
Noun
pursiness (uncountable)
- The state of being pursy.
- Shortness of breath, especially due to fatness.
- 1649, Charles Hoole, An Easie Entrance to the Latine Tongue, London: Joshuah Kirton, II. A Vocabulary of the most common words English and Latine, 21. Of Diseases, p. 218,
- pursiness, Asthma, ǎtis. f.
- 1838, Robert Smith Surtees, Jorrocks’s Jaunts and Jollities, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 2nd edition, 1843, No. I, “The Swell and the Surrey,” p. 6,
- […] any slight degree of pursiness that the good steeds may have acquired by standing at livery in Cripplegate, or elsewhere, is speedily pumped out of them by a smart brush over the turf […]
- 1649, Charles Hoole, An Easie Entrance to the Latine Tongue, London: Joshuah Kirton, II. A Vocabulary of the most common words English and Latine, 21. Of Diseases, p. 218,
- Fatness, obesity.
- 1595, Thomas Lodge, A Fig for Momus, Epistle VI, cited in J. W. Lever, The Elizabethan Love Sonnet, London: Methuen, 1966, p. 150,
- You pray me to aduise, and tell you what
- Will take away your pursiness and fat,
- 1872, C. H. Cleaveland, Pronouncing Medical Lexicon, Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 14th edition, p. 202,
- PURSINESS, […] obesity.
- 1906, Florence Parsons (as “Mrs. Clement Parsons”), Garrick and His Circle, London: Methuen, p. 131,
- Hogarth’s fine portrait of him, […] recently acquired by the National Gallery, suggests the double chin and general pursiness of the bon vivant.
- 1595, Thomas Lodge, A Fig for Momus, Epistle VI, cited in J. W. Lever, The Elizabethan Love Sonnet, London: Methuen, 1966, p. 150,
- The state of being puckered.
- 1969, Susan Morrow, A Season of Evil, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Chapter 13, p. 120,
- When he smiled, the slight pursiness of his mouth disappeared, and a markedly irregular front tooth gave him a boyish air.
- 2000, Miranda Jarrett, Starlight, New York: Sonnet Books, Chapter 4, p. 57,
- […] as his lips pressed down upon hers, coaxing them to abandon their pursiness and relax, she gave a little moan of surprise.
- 1969, Susan Morrow, A Season of Evil, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Chapter 13, p. 120,
- Shortness of breath, especially due to fatness.
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for pursiness in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)