puss
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: po͝os, IPA(key): /pʊs/
Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ʊs
Etymology 1
Probably from Middle Low German pūs, pūskatte or Dutch poes (“puss, cat”, slang for “vulva”), ultimately from a common Germanic word for cat, perhaps ultimately imitative of a sound made to get its attention (compare Arabic بسة (bissa)).
Akin to West Frisian poes, Low German Puus, Puuskatte, Danish pus, dialectal Swedish kattepus, Norwegian pus.
Found also in several other European, North African and West Asian languages; compare Romanian pisică, Persian پیشی (Pishi)and Sardinian pisittu.
Noun
puss (plural pusses)
- (informal, often as a term of address) A cat.
- Our local theatre is showing Puss in Boots.
- Come here, puss! I've got some milk for you.
- (dated, endearing) A girl or young woman, or any child.
- (dated, hunting) A hare.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], OCLC 928184292:
- He then began to beat about, in the same language and in the same manner as if he had been beating for a hare; and at last cried out, "Soho! Puss is not far off. Here's her form, upon my soul; I believe I may cry stole away."
- 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, H.L. Brækstad, transl., Folk and Fairy Tales, page 77:
- 'It won't kill Puss any better for that.' 'But, goodness gracious, what can that hare be made of?' I asked.
-
- (vulgar, slang) The vulva (female genitalia).
- (vulgar, slang, metonymically) Sex with a woman.
- 1986, Tim Kazurinsky; Denise DeClue, About Last Night, spoken by Bernie (Jim Belushi):
- So don't know! So, what are you gonna do? Sell your birthright for a little bit of puss?
-
- (vulgar, slang, chiefly Canada, US) A coward; a wuss; someone who is unable to stand up for themself.
Synonyms
- (cat): moggie/moggy
Derived terms
- puss moth
- puss out
Related terms
- pussy
Etymology 2
Of Celtic origin, from or akin to Irish pus (“mouth, lip”), from Middle Irish bus.
Noun
puss (plural pusses)
- (slang) The mouth.
- Shut your puss before I shut it for you.
- 1991, New York Magazine (volume 24, number 21, page 62)
- Hubbert has a rasping voice and a razory laugh, and he's busy and theatrical in the worst way — a noisy performing pro with whirlwind arms and a saturnine puss.
- (slang) The face.
- She gave him a slap in the puss.
Synonyms
- (mouth): cakehole, gob, mush, trap
Noun
puss (uncountable)
- Alternative spelling of pus
- 2010 Alien Purgatory page 40
- It didn't move as much, and the same teary puss leaked from its eyes.
- 2012 Southern Supposition page 132
- People called him Puss Head because if you crossed him, he went to great lengths to make sure that before you died, puss leaked from your head.
- 2016 When Crickets Cry page 267
- Puss leaked out from beneath white gauze on his back and trickled down his spine.
- 2010 Alien Purgatory page 40
References
- Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
Anagrams
- PSUs, USPS, USPs, sups, susp
Norwegian Bokmål
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pʉs/
Etymology 1
From pusse (“to clean, polish, plaster, render”).
Noun
puss m (definite singular pussen, indefinite plural pusser, definite plural pussene)
- polish, finery
- (a layer of) plaster (mortar), plastering
- finery
Etymology 2
From Latin pus.
Noun
puss m or n (definite singular pussen or pusset)
- (pathology) pus (yellowish fluid from infected tissue)
Etymology 3
Apparently from Dutch Low Saxon or German Low German.
New High German Possen (“coarse prank”), although superficially similar, derives via Middle High German from Old French, and is therefore probably unrelated.
Noun
puss n (definite singular pusset, indefinite plural puss, definite plural pussa or pussene)
- trick, prank
References
- “puss” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology 1
From pusse (“to clean, polish, plaster, render”).
Noun
puss m (definite singular pussen, indefinite plural pussar, definite plural pussane)
- polish, finery
- (a layer of) plaster (mortar), plastering
- finery
Etymology 2
From Latin pus.
Noun
puss m or n (definite singular pussen or pusset)
- (pathology) pus (yellowish fluid from infected tissue)
Etymology 3
Apparently from Dutch Low Saxon or German Low German.
New High German Possen (“coarse prank”), although superficially similar, derives via Middle High German from Old French, and is therefore probably unrelated.
Noun
puss n (definite singular pusset, indefinite plural puss, definite plural pussa)
- trick, prank
References
- “puss” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Swedish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɵs/
Audio (file)
Noun
puss c
- Peck; a light or dispassionate kiss performed with closed lips, used for example as a greeting or in non-sensual/non-sexual contexts.
- A puddle, a plash.
Declension
Declension of puss | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | puss | pussen | pussar | pussarna |
Genitive | puss | pussens | pussars | pussarnas |
Related terms
- pussa
See also
- kyss
- pözz
Anagrams
- sups