pussn.1
/pʊs/, U.S. /pʊs/ colloquial.
1.
a. A conventional proper or pet name for a cat, frequently (sometimes reduplicated) used as a call to attract its attention.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Felidae (feline) > felis domesticus (cat) > [noun]
cata800
bad?a1325
gibc1400
baudrons?a1500
house cat?1527
puss-cata1529
puss1533
puss1598
mewer1611
mewler1611
Tibert1616
malkina1627
grimalkin1630
meower1632
miauler1632
pussycat1698
pussy1699
tigerkin1849
moggie1911
pussums1912
mog1926
1533 J. Heywood Mery Play Iohan Iohan sig. B.iiiv I haue sene the day that pus my cat Hath had in a yere kytlyns eyghtene.
1565 Kyng Daryus (Brandl) 181 I can fere the knaues with my grannams Cat. Pusse pusse, where art thou?
1568 Newe Comedie Iacob & Esau ii. iv. sig. D.ijv Esau..left not so muche [of the pottage] as a licke for pusse, our catte.
1591 R. Percyvall Bibliotheca Hispanica Dict. at Miça The terme to call a cat, as we saie ‘pusse’.
1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. L6 Foretelling..weather by our aches... True Calenders, as Pusses eare Washt o're, to tell what change is neare.
1712 E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 214 The Spaniards, when they call them, say Miz, as we do Puss.
1792 S. T. Coleridge Coll. Lett. (1956) I. 25 Puss like her master is a very gentle brute, and I behave to her with all possible politeness.
1801 S. Owenson Poems 73 View puss by fire her station take.
1897 B. Stoker Dracula vii. 89 The dog..was in a..fury..its hairs bristling out like a cat's tail when puss is on the war-path.
1956 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 4 Oct. 1/2 Mrs. Doctor looked out the window and poor Puss was stretched stark dead on the lawn.
2000 Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chron. (Nexis) 20 May 1 b There is an unwelcome silence at home now that my Puss is gone... I am planning to adopt another kitty as soon as I can.
2004 Daily Mail (Nexis) 13 We ‘know’ when the cat is out there waiting to come in. Open the door—Here, ‘puss, puss, puss’—but there she is already.
b. colloquial (originally nursery). A cat. Cf. puss-cat n., pussy n. 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Felidae (feline) > felis domesticus (cat) > [noun]
cata800
bad?a1325
gibc1400
baudrons?a1500
house cat?1527
puss-cata1529
puss1533
puss1598
mewer1611
mewler1611
Tibert1616
malkina1627
grimalkin1630
meower1632
miauler1632
pussycat1698
pussy1699
tigerkin1849
moggie1911
pussums1912
mog1926
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Muccia..a yoong cat or kitlin or pusse to play with.
1605 G. Chapman et al. Eastward Hoe iv. sig. G2v When the famous fable of Whittington and his pusse shalbe forgotten.
1694 P. A. Motteux Wks. F. Rabelais (1737) iv. xvii. 71 The Bite of a She Puss [Fr. chatte]..was the Cause of his Death.
1745 M. Delany Autobiogr. & Corr. (1861) II. 342 Have I told you of a pretty tortoiseshell puss I have?
1818 R. Heber Let. 31 July in A. Heber Life R. Heber (1830) I. xv. 490 On being asked whether New Zealanders eat cats, he answered ‘New Zealanders eatee hog, him..eatee warrior and old woman, but him no eatee puss!’
1835 W. Colton Ship & Shore 192 Our unfortunate puss had been taken on board at Malaga, and since her embarkation we had not been visited by one favorable breeze.
c1840 W. E. Forster in T. W. Reid Life W. E. Forster (1888) I. v. 135 A most delightful black kitten..; a most refined, graceful, intellectual, amusing puss.
1935 R. Griffiths Imagination in Early Childhood x. 183 The puss saw the rat, and went like this (crouching) and the rat didn't see 'im.
1993 Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) 5 June 5/4 He said the puss was shot Wednesday night and was found..by workers from Irvington Animal Control the following morning.
c. humorous. A proper or pet name for a big cat. Cf. pussy n. 2a. (Also reduplicated.)
ΚΠ
1837 Heath's Bk. Beauty 156 Puss—a remarkably fine animal..had fastened on the trunk of Falkiner's elephant.
1902 Democrat & Standard (Coshocton, Ohio) 6 Nov. He loves Puss best of all. She is the leopard.
1969 Yuma (Arizona) Daily Sun 30 July After some embarrassing situations caused by her puma, Puss Puss, she was forced to leave her Brooklyn apartment.
2. A hare. Also used as a proper or pet name. Now English regional.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Lepus (hares) > lepus europaeus (hare)
harea700
wimountc1280
wood-catc1280
babbart?a1300
ballart?a1300
bigge?a1300
goibert?a1300
grasshopper?a1300
lightfoot?a1300
long-ear?a1300
make-fare?a1300
pintail?a1300
pollart?a1300
purblind?a1300
roulekere?a1300
scot?a1300
scotewine?a1300
side-looker?a1300
sitter?a1300
westlooker?a1300
wort-cropper?a1300
break-forwardc1300
broom-catc1300
swikebertc1300
cawel-herta1325
deuberta1325
deudinga1325
fern-sittera1325
fitelfoota1325
foldsittera1325
furze cata1325
scutardea1325
skikarta1325
stobherta1325
straw deera1325
turpina1325
skulker1387
chavarta1400
soillarta1400
waldeneiea1400
scutc1440
coward1486
wata1500
bawtiec1536
puss1575
watkin1585
malkin1706
pussy1715
bawd1785
lion1825
dew-hopper-
1575 G. Gascoigne Short Obseruation Coursing with Greyhoundes in Noble Arte Venerie 246 Then let him which founde the Hare go towardes hyr and say, vp pusse vp, vntill she ryse out of hyr forme.
1668 G. Etherege She wou'd if she Cou'd iv. ii. 63 If a Leveret be better meat than an old Puss.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. vii. 132/1 An Hare, 1 a Leverett, and then an Hare, or an old Hare, or a Lusty Puss. But this last I looke upon but as a bastard terme.
1709 O. Dykes Eng. Proverbs (ed. 2) 289 Makes a Hare of the one, and a Hound of the other, and only takes Puss's Part, to set the Dog after her.
1721 H. Jacob Peeper 6 Sportsmen the gamesome Hare pursue, And scorn the Puss that squats in View.
1778 C. Graham Misc. Pieces 67 ‘Bud did ye kill the hares?’..‘Aye, that we dud’... ‘It wad'nt been sea hard to've spar'd a puss.’
1850 J. G. Bruff Jrnl. 22 Sept. in Gold Rush (1944) II. iv. 852 A hare afforded us some sport. Capt Jones pursued her at full speed, puss doubled, and crossed the trail.
1896 P. A. Graham Red Scaur 88 His eye caught sight of a puss quietly galloping down by the hedge of a ploughed field.
1974 J. Stevens Cox Ilchester Word List 44/1 Puss, hare.
1987 Horse & Hound 26 Mar. 57/3 The change of weather, however, seemed to affect the scent, and puss made good her escape.
3.
a. A girl or woman, esp. one exhibiting characteristics associated with a cat, as spitefulness, slyness, attractiveness, playfulness, etc. Originally used as a term of contempt; in later use also as a pet name or term of endearment. Cf. pussy n. 1a. Now rare. Now chiefly as the second element in compounds; see sly puss, glamour-puss.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [noun] > held in contempt > female
tega1529
puss1602
the mind > emotion > love > terms of endearment > [noun]
darlingc888
belamy?c1225
culver?c1225
dearc1230
sweetheartc1290
heartc1300
sweetc1330
honeya1375
dovec1386
jewelc1400
birdc1405
cinnamonc1405
honeycombc1405
lovec1405
wantonc1450
mulling?a1475
daisyc1485
crowdy-mowdy?a1513
honeysop?a1513
powsowdie?a1513
suckler?a1513
foolc1525
buttinga1529
whitinga1529
beautiful1534
turtle-dove1535
soula1538
heartikin1540
bully?1548
turtle1548
lamba1556
nyletc1557
sweet-lovea1560
coz1563
ding-ding1564
pugs1566
golpol1568
sparling1570
lover1573
pug1580
bulkin1582
mopsy1582
chuck1589
bonny1594
chick1594
sweetikin1596
ladybird1597
angel1598
muss1598
pinkany1599
sweetkin1599
duck1600
joy1600
sparrowc1600
sucket1605
nutting1606
chuckaby1607
tickling1607
bagpudding1608
heartling1608
chucking1609
dainty1611
flittermouse1612
honeysuckle1613
fubs1614
bawcocka1616
pretty1616
old thinga1625
bun1627
duckling1630
bulchin1633
bulch?c1640
sweetling1648
friscoa1652
ding-dongs1662
buntinga1668
cocky1680
dearie1681
chucky1683
lovey1684
machree1689
nykin1693
pinkaninny1696
nug1699
hinny1724
puss1753
pet1767
dovey1769
sweetie1778
lovey-dovey1781
lovely1791
ducky1819
toy1822
acushla1825
alanna1825
treat1825
amigo1830
honey child1832
macushla1834
cabbage1840
honey-bunch1874
angel pie1878
m'dear1887
bach1889
honey baby1895
prawn1895
hon1896
so-and-so1897
cariad1899
pumpkin1900
honey-bun1902
pussums1912
snookums1919
treasure1920
wogger1922
amico1929
sugar1930
baby cake1949
angel cake1951
lamb-chop1962
petal1974
bae2006
1602 T. Dekker Satiro-mastix sig. F3 Ile give thee none but Sugarcandie wordes, I will not pusse; goody Tripe-wife, I will not.
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist v. iii. sig. L3v The baudy Doctor, and the Cosening Captaine, And Pus my Suster. View more context for this quotation
1630 T. Dekker Second Pt. Honest Whore i. iii. 106 This wench (your new wife)..This Shee-cat will haue more liues then your last Pusse had.
1663 S. Pepys Diary 6 Aug. (1971) IV. 264 His wife, an ugly pusse but brought him money.
1732 H. Fielding Mod. Husband iv. 55 I think her an ugly, ungenteel, squinting, flirting, impudent, odious, dirty Puss.
1753 School of Man 95 The ingratitude, the villainy, says he, of the little Puss.
1780 C. Dibdin Shepherdess of Alps iii. iv. 62 Piqued at the little angry puss, Cried he, she sets me all on fire! Then plagues himself, and makes this fuss, Only to raise her value higher.
1846 C. Dickens Battle of Life i. 13 ‘Somebody's birth-day, Puss,’ replied the Doctor.
1861 T. A. Trollope La Beata I. v. 102 To think that the little puss should defend herself so coolly.
1881 W. Besant & J. Rice Chaplain of Fleet II. ix. 173 They could not have believed their daughter so sly and deceitful a puss.
1919 R. Firbank Valmouth xi. 189 ‘Oh, she's a regular puss; my word she is.’ A regular civet if ever there was, Mrs Thoroughfare wickedly commented.
1940 M. Sadleir Fanny by Gaslight i. 46 How's that, William? The puss says she will come too!
1951 G. Heyer Quiet Gentleman xii. 183 Shocked! Ay, so she might be, the naughty puss!
1978 ‘M. M. Kaye’ Far Pavilions ii. ix. 148 All the young fellows lining up to take his pretty little puss out riding and dancing.
b. Reduplicated as int., implying spite or cattiness in the person addressed. Cf. meow int. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > unkindness > spite, malice > comment on cattiness [interjection]
puss1926
meow1937
1926 H. Nicolson Let. 14 May in J. Lees-Milne Harold Nicolson (1980) xi. 235 The man was merely a prig..he would look very foolish..in Gordon Square (Puss, puss, puss).
1936 A. Christie Murder in Mesopotamia vi. 47 ‘We've been so very worried about dear Mrs. Leidner, haven't we, Louise?’.. ‘Puss, puss,’ I thought to myself.
1948 D. Ballantyne Cunninghams i. xviii. 95 ‘Stuck-up, if you ask me,’ Joy said. ‘Puss puss,’ Ralph said.
1954 ‘M. Cost’ Invitation from Minerva 75 ‘Your cinema career was short-lived anyway.’ ‘Puss-puss,’ she warned.
c. Chiefly North American. A sweet or effeminate man; a weakling, a coward. Cf. pussy n. 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > man > [noun] > effeminate man
badlingeOE
milksopc1390
cockneyc1405
malkina1425
molla1425
weakling1526
tenderling1541
softling1543
niceling1549
woman-man1567
cocknel1570
effeminate1583
androgyne1587
meacock1590
mammaday1593
hermaphrodite1594
midwife1596
nimfadoro1600
night-sneaker1611
mock-mana1625
nan1670
she-man1675
petit maître1711
old woman1717
master-miss1754
Miss Molly1754
molly1785
squaw1805
mollycoddle1823
Miss Nancy1824
mollycot1826
molly mop1829
poof1833
Margery?c1855
ladyboy1857
girl1862
Mary Ann1868
sissy1879
milk1881
pretty-boy1881
nancy1888
poofter1889
Nancy Dawson1890
softie1895
puff1902
pussy1904
Lizzie1905
nance1910
quean1910
maricon1921
pie-face1922
bitch1923
Jessie1923
lily1923
tapette1923
pansy1926
nancy boy1927
nelly1931
femme1932
ponce1932
queerie1933
palone1934
queenie1935
girlie-man1940
swish1941
puss1942
wonk1945
mother1947
candy-ass1953
twink1953
cream puff1958
pronk1959
swishy1959
limp wrist1960
pansy-ass1963
weeny1963
poofteroo1966
mo1968
shim1973
twinkie1977
woofter1977
cake boy1992
hermaphrodite-
1942 C. Beaton Diary Jan. in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) xi. 91 I've been beastly about you being Elsa Maxwell's darling and Elsie Mendl's puss.
1982 L. Olivier Confessions of Actor ii. v. 72 We had it decorated by Arthur de Lissa, a sweet old puss.
1993 Analog Sci. Fiction & Fact May 126/2 A guy I hung out with and fenced stuff to..kept calling me a puss 'cause I only did grab and run.
1996 Plow Snowboarding Mag. Dec. 58/1 Plow: Why didn't you fight back you puss? BM: These guys out numbered us. When we tried I got maced and couldn't see for two days.
4. coarse slang. = pussy n. 3.The attribution of quot. 1664 to this sense is uncertain, but is suggested in Farmer and Henley Slang (1902).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > sex organs > female sex organs > [noun]
cuntc1230
quivera1382
chosec1386
privy chosea1387
quoniamc1405
naturec1470
shell1497
box1541
water gate1541
mouth1568
quiver case1568
water gap1586
cunnya1593
medlar1597
mark1598
buggle-boo1600
malkin1602
lap1607
skin coat1611
quim1613
nest1614
watermilla1626
bum1655
merkin1656
twat1656
notch1659
commodity1660
modicum1660
crinkum-crankum1670
honeypot1673
honour1688
muff1699
pussy1699
puss1707
fud1771
jock1790
cock?1833
fanny?1835
vaginac1890
rug1893
money-maker1896
Berkeley1899
Berkeley Hunt1899
twitchet1899
mingea1903
snatch1904
beaver1927
coozie1934
Sir Berkeley1937
pocketbook1942
pranny1949
zatch1950
cooch1955
bearded clam1962
noonie1966
chuff1967
coozea1968
carpet1981
pum-pum1983
front bum1985
coochie1986
punani1987
front bottom1991
va-jay-jay2000
1664 C. Cotton Scarronides 107 Æneas, here's a Health to thee, To Pusse and to good Company; And he that will not do, as I do, Proclaimes himself no friend to Dido.]
1707 in E. J. Burford Bawdy Verse (1982) 212 But he missed of the sport for Puss would not start.
1790 A. Tait Poems & Songs 144 Then he fastened on her puss.
1902 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang V. 333/1 Puss... The female pudendum..also pussy and pussy-cat.
1928 in A. W. Read Lexical Evid. from Folk Epigr. West. N. Amer. (1935) 71 She may (not?) be a cat trader's daughter, but she's got some puss.
1958 T. Southern & M. Hoffenberg Candy (1994) xi. 156 Of course they had no notion of what was playing at the art cinemas, or anywhere else for that matter, being out only for cheap strong lush and slick tight puss.
1978 I. M. Gaskin Spiritual Midwifery (rev. ed.) i. 32 ‘Vagina’ is the medical term, a Latin word, but I prefer to use ‘puss’ because it sounds friendlier.
1990 L. Brown in S. Ravenel New Stories from South (1991) 117 I did not give much of a damn whether I ever got any more of Mildred's puss or not.
5. Puss in the (also a) corner n. a children's game in which a player in the centre tries to capture one of the other players' ‘dens’ or ‘bases’ as they change places; (also) a more elaborate form of the same game, formerly played in the British Navy. Also figurative.Also called Puss, Puss.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > other children's games > [noun] > Puss in the corner
Puss in the (also a) corner1709
Pussy Wants a (also the) Corner1829
Pussy Four Corners1912
1699 T. D'Urfey Choice Coll. New Songs 6 (title) Puss in a Corner.]
1709 W. King Useful Trans. in Philos. Jan.–Feb. 43 The English Plays have barbarous sounding Names, as..Puss in a Corner..and the like.
1738 Gentleman's Mag. Feb. 81/1 The favourite one was Puss in the Corner... In this play, four Boys or Girls post themselves at the four corners of the room and the fifth in the middle, who keeps himself on the watch to slip into one of the corner places when the present possessors are endeavouring to supplant one another.
1842 J. F. Cooper Wing-and-Wing (1871) xv. 232 Weil, I told Nelson, if this lad should get to dodging round one of the islands, we might as well set about playing puss in the corner..as to think of driving him off the land.
a1854 E. Grant Mem. Highland Lady (1988) I. iii. 62 They played..cricket, hunt the slipper, puss in the corner, and..other games.
1866 Daily Tel. 8 Feb. 4/4 The necessities which frequently compel a Premier to make the reorganisation of his Cabinet a game of Puss-in-the-Corner.
1908 W. S. Gilbert Story of H.M.S. Pinafore i. 14 The wags among the crew pretended that his two eyes, his nose, and his mouth, had been playing ‘Puss in the Corner’.
1926 ‘R. Crompton’ William—the Conqueror xiii. 240 Now, what shall we play at first?.. Puss in the Corner?
1969 I. Opie & P. Opie Children's Games vi. 207 The fun of ‘Puss in the Corner’ is that the players themselves negotiate when they are going to run; its disadvantage is that it is normally for five players, no more and no less.
2003 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 21 Dec. 4/1 Baseball combines the best features of primitive cricket, lawn tennis, puss-in-the-corner and Handel's Messiah.
6. The puss moth, Cerura vinula.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Notodontidae > cerura vinula (puss-moth)
puss1766
puss moth1769
1766 M. Harris Aurelian 71* Plate XXXVIII. Puss. The Caterpillar feeds on aspin, and several sorts of willow, on which the parent Moth lays her eggs about the middle of June.
1819 G. Samouelle Entomologist's Compend. 431 Cerura Vinula. The Puss.
1974 W. Condry Woodlands xiii. 148 Among the..moths of willows is the puss whose large fantastic caterpillars, equipped with strange whip-tipped tails..make a wholesale stripping of the leaves.
Compounds
C1.
a. † puss-house n. Obsolete rare
puss-purr n. poetic rare
ΚΠ
1935 T. S. Eliot Murder in Cathedral i. 43 Puss-purr of leopard, footfall of padding bear.
ΚΠ
1869 J. S. Mill Let. 16 Jan. (1910) II. 177 Among the other additions there is a puss-house.
b. Similative.
puss-faced adj. now rare
ΚΠ
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola lxx, in Cornhill Mag. Aug. 142 This puss-faced minx.
1883 Besant Let Nothing You Dismay ii No poor puss-faced swab to fear fair fighting.
C2. † puss-gentleman n. Obsolete rare a man perfumed with civet (cf. cat n.1 4a).
puss boot n. [probably representing a humorous folk reference to the soft tread of a person in such shoes] Jamaican a light canvas shoe with a rubber sole; a plimsoll.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun] > types of > made from specific material > canvas
sand-shoes1858
boat shoe1865
deck shoe1879
plimsoll1885
tennis shoe1887
sneaker1895
pump1897
tackiec1902
Ked1917
puss shoe1938
puss boot1942
runner1970
1942 L. Bennett Jamaica Dial. Verses 36 She..Put awn wan tear-up frack Shove har foot eena wan ole puss boot An go.
1956 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 15 Nov. 20 (advt.) It's quiet as a mouse in puss-boots.
1986 O. Senior Summer Lightning & Other Stories 29 See here, he wearing the biggest pair of puss boots that ever make.
puss caterpillar n. (a) the larva of the puss moth, Cerura vinula; (b) U.S. the larva of the moth Megalopyge opercularis (family Megalopygidae), of the south-eastern United States, which is covered with long silky hairs that conceal stinging hairs; (also, more fully puss caterpillar moth) the moth itself.
ΚΠ
1860 J. Duncan in W. Jardine Naturalist's Libr. XXX. 192 The two-forked tail alluded to..is peculiar to the Puss caterpillar and two or three others.
1922 F. C. Bishopp in Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 15 100 (title) The puss caterpillar (Melanopyge opercularis) and the effects of its stings on man.
1972 L. A. Swan & C. S. Papp Common Insects N. Amer. 296 The Puss Caterpillar, M. opercularis.., is similar; the larva is broad and flat, covered with long, silky reddish brown hairs.
1993 R. H. Arnett Amer. Insects 561/2 M. opercularis (Smith) (Puss Caterpillar Moth)... Thorax and abdomen with basal tufts of pale yellow hairlike setae.
ΚΠ
1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 226 I cannot talk with civet in the room, A fine puss-gentleman that's all perfume.
puss shoe n. Jamaican (now rare) = puss boot n.
ΚΠ
1938 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 25 Mar. 18/8 I venture to say that one-third of the people in Jamaica do not know what it is to put a pair of shoes on their feet, and very often what is shown in the statistics are little puss shoes.
1961 F. G. Cassidy Jamaica Talk vi. 114 Tennis shoes with rubber soles and canvas tops are widely known in Jamaica as puss boots or puss shoes.
1969 Sunday Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 5 Oct. 8/5 Rubber soled canvas shoes (or puss shoes or hard socks, as they were sometimes called) 1/6d.
Derivatives
ˈpuss-like adj.
ΚΠ
1873 C. G. Leland Egyptian Sketch-bk. 59 The cobras are puss-like in their habits, and like petting.
2004 OC Weekly (Nexis) 5 Nov. 13 By 11:30, the Young Dems have a little more moxie. They're considerably less puss-like than an hour ago.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
pussn.2
/pʊs/, U.S. /pʊs/, Irish English /pʌs/, /pʊs/ Irish English and slang (chiefly U.S.).
1. A person's face or mouth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > types of face > [noun]
muskin1530
vizard1568
monkey-face?1589
chitty-face1601
angel face1605
smock-face1605
fish-facea1625
platter face1631
ammunition face1649
horn-facea1668
baby facea1684
crab face1706
hatchet face1707
splatter-face1707
paddock-face1724
pudding face1748
dough face1755
Madonna face1790
company face1798
moon-face1822
pug-facea1845
puss1844
frog-face1872
bun-face1913
bitch face1969
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > mouth > [noun]
moutheOE
billa1000
munc1400
mussa1529
mouc1540
gan1567
gob1568
bouche1582
oven1593
taster1596
Pipe Office1609
neba1616
gab1681
gam1724
mouthpiece1738
potato-trap1785
potato-jaw1791
fly-trapc1795
trap1796
mouthie1801
mug1820
gin-trap1824
rattletrap1824
box1830
mouf1836
bread trap1838
puss1844
tater-trap1846
gash1852
kissing trap1854
shop1855
north and south1858
mooey1859
kisser1860
gingerbread-trap1864
bazoo1877
bake1893
tattie-trap1894
yap1900
smush1930
gate1937
cakehole1943
motormouth1976
pie hole1983
geggie1985
1844 Amer. Turf Reg. June 334 He [sc. an Irish fisherman] pointed to where a splendid fish rose and threw himself in sporting style. ‘Be quick, sir, or dat lad will run ahead af you don't put de hook in his puss.’
1887 Los Angeles Times 18 Apr. 10/2 Cheese that, or I'll give you a smack in the puss.
1890 D. A. Simmons Words & Phr. Armagh & S. Donegal in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 653/2 He has an ugly puss.
1911 C. B. Chrysler White Slavery viii. 67 She gets ‘a slam in the puss’ (slugged, struck in the face).
1932 J. T. Farrell Young Lonigan iii. 111 He twisted his lips in sneers, screwed up his puss.
1946 A. Kober That Man is here Again 77 But Blabbermouth Benny hadda go and open his big, fat puss!
1951 J. Reach My Friend Irma 29 Her puss will be featured in hundreds of papers.
1971 ‘A. Burgess’ MF xiii. 149 You can get her to keep quiet about it, threaten her with a sock on the puss and that.
1992 Raritan Summer 91 They hush up with little smiles on their pusses, and it is clear they are enjoying themselves, some little secret they are harboring.
2. A sour or sulky facial expression; a pout. Cf. sourpuss n. at sour adj. and n.1 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill humour > expression of ill humour > [noun] > pouting > a pout
pout1591
moue1849
puss1899
1899 S. MacManus In Chimney Corners 172 Away the masther goes with his mouth in a puss.
1910 P. W. Joyce Eng. as we speak it in Ireland 309 ‘He had a puss on him’, i.e. he looked sour or displeased—with lips contracted.
1956 E. Hunter Jungle Kids 24 You look lousy when you got a puss on.
1991 R. Doyle Van (1992) 56 But then you put this puss on yeh—It's not my fault we've no fuckin' money for your fuckin' Christmas cards!
2002 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) July 110/2 I was walking around with a puss on my face, moaning about how no place was a good place to be.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
pussv.
/pʊs/, U.S. /pʊs/ intransitive. To move or act like a cat; to move silently and stealthily.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > stealthy movement > move stealthily [verb (intransitive)]
besteala725
snikec897
steal1154
creepc1175
skulk?c1225
snaker?c1225
stalkc1300
slenchc1330
lurka1375
slinkc1374
snokec1380
slide1382
slipc1400
mitchera1575
sneak1598
snake1818
sly1825
snoop1832
to steal one's way1847
sniggle1881
gumshoe1897
slime1898
pussyfoot1902
soft-foot1913
cat-foot1916
pussy1919
pussa1953
a1953 D. Thomas Adventures Skin Trade (1955) 101 They pussed and spied around the room, unaware of their dancing.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11533
n.21844
v.a1953- talk through one's neck
- talk through the back of one's neck
- talk time
- talk to
- talk to a brick wall
- talk to etc on the big white telephone
- talk to god on the big white telephone
- talk to ralph on the big white telephone
- talk to the hand
- talk to the hand because the face don't ain't listening
- talk to the hand because the face don't etc
- talk to the hand because the face don't understand
- talk trash
- talk turkey
- talk turpentine
- talk united states
- talk up
- talk up to
- talk-back
- talk-down
- talk-film
- talk-in
- talk-master
- talk-out
- talk-over