bitchn.1
/bɪtʃ/, U.S. /bɪtʃ/ I. Senses referring to a female animal.
1. A female dog.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > dog > [noun] > female
bitchOE
bick1440
doggess1748
slut1811
matron1931
OE tr. Medicina de Quadrupedibus (Vitell.) x. 264 Biccean meolc, gif ðu gelome cilda toðreoman mid smyrest.., butan sare hy wexað.
a1275 (?c1200) Prov. Alfred (Trin. Cambr.) (1955) 132 Þe bicche bitit ille þau he berke stille.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 141 He fonde a bicche ȝeue þe childe souke.
a1525 (?1421) Coventry Leet Bk. (1907) I. 27 (MED) Þat no man hold no grett houndes ne byches goyng in the hyȝe way, up the payn of xl d. at euery trespas.
a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 12. Nor putting Pigs t' a Bitch to nurse, To turn 'em into Mungrel-Curs.
1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews I. i. xv. 108 ‘If you have a mind for a Bett,’ cries the Coachman, ‘I will match my spotted Dog with your white Bitch for a hundred, play or pay.’
1842 C. J. Lever Handy Andy ii. 14 All the dogs are well, I hope, and my favourite bitch.
1933 E. F. Daglish Dog Owner's Guide viii. 199 Some bitches will accept the dog earlier, but about the tenth day is usually the ideal.
2016 Bromsgrove Advertiser (Nexis) 30 Dec. Still missing are..two liver cocker spaniel puppies, one dog and one bitch.
2. The female of a (typically specified) species of carnivorous mammal, esp. a fox, wolf, or otter. Also in figurative and poetic contexts, sometimes with allusion to sense 3. For use as modifier see Compounds 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > female
bitcha1425
a1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Digby) vi. 35 Whann a wolfe and a bycche of hir kynde haue take felawshipe togeders, þei abideth commonlich euermore togyders.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. ii. f. 97 The dogge tiger beynge thus kylled, theye..came to the denne where the bytche remayned with her twoo younge suckynge whelpes.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. x. vii. 55 We have got the Dog Fox, I warrant the Bitch is not far off. View more context for this quotation
1834 J. Lomax Diary 10 July in Otter Hunting Diary (1910) 33 We found two otters, an old bitch and a young bitch.
1880 Baily's Mag. Sports & Pastimes Mar. 132 When a bitch of the fox kind is ‘bragged’ and big with her progeny.., she is so devilish that she cannot be approached.
1940 Geogr. Jrnl. 95 268 They were apparently four dog wolves and a bitch, and I was surprised to see how large the wolves looked standing beside our dogs.
2008 J. P. S. Brown Wolves at our Door v. 73 Another bitch held her by the tail and another had begun to feed under the tail.
II. Senses referring to a person.
3.
a. derogatory (now colloquial and sometimes offensive). An unpleasant or despicable woman; spec. (originally) a lewd or lascivious woman, (later) a malicious or spiteful woman. Also as a general term of abuse for a woman.See also son of a bitch n. and int.The word bitch as applied to a woman became increasingly taboo from the 18th cent. onwards (see e.g. quot. ?1886), and N.E.D. (1887) notes ‘not now in decent use; but formerly common in literature’. The word is now in common colloquial use as a derogatory term for a woman but can be regarded, esp. when used by a man, as misogynistic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > spitefulness > spiteful person > [noun] > female
bitchc1175
wild cat1570
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > unkindness > spite, malice > [noun] > malicious person > female
bitchc1175
wild cat1570
bitch face1939
biatch1986
c1175 Glosses to Homilies of Ælfric (Trin. Cambr. B.15.34) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 436 Fracodan myltestran : fulan horan & byccan.
a1450 Castle Perseverance (1969) l. 2116 Dame Pacyens..Þou bycche blak as kole.
1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus iv. vi. sig. X I beseche god send you an euyll myschefe, you moste lothesome cutte tayled bytches, whom I haue become slaue vnto, thus shamefully.
1575 W. Stevenson Gammer Gurtons Nedle ii. ii. sig. Biiiiv Come out thou hungry nedy bytche.
a1648 W. Percy Cuck-queanes & Cuckolds Errants (1824) iii. vi. 42 Hore, Hare, Harlot, Bitch, Fellatrice, Witch, Bawde, Ribaud, Tribade.
1675 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Odysses xviii. 310 Ulysses looking sourly answered, You Bitch.
1712 J. Arbuthnot Law is Bottomless-pit viii. 14 An extravagant Bitch of a Wife.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Bitch,..the most offensive apellation that can be given to an English woman, even more provoking than that of whore, as may be gathered from the regular Billinsgate [sic] or St. Giles's answers, ‘I may be a whore, but can't be a bitch.’
1790 ‘P. Pindar’ Advice to Future Laureat 7 Call her prostitute, bawd, dirty b—— [1812 Wks. Bitch].
1808 Proc. Old Bailey 13 Jan. 83/1 He said to himself, you bitch I will mark you this night for burning my face with a candle.
1882 Proc. Old Bailey 13 Sept. 533 If that little bitch had been drunk she would have torn your b—— eyes out.
?1886 Accused the Accusers: Famous Speeches Chicago Anarchists 30 As she protested he said: ‘Shut up, you bitch, or I will knock you down.’ I repeat the same words here, and I have a right to, as the noble officers of Chicago have used this language.
1931 R. Aldington Colonel's Daughter i. 50 What a preposterous old bitch that woman is.
1978 K. Acker Blood & Guts in High School 18 Sally's a rich young bitch who'll fuck anyone until a more famous one comes along as young WASP bitches do.
2005 Gazette (Montreal) (Nexis) 16 July d2 When one woman was staring at him, he yelled ‘What are you looking at, bitch.’
2016 K. Parks Lifeboat Clique iv. 37 That's what made Sienna such a bitch. She wasn't content to be unfriendly. She just had to take it to the next level.
b. colloquial. In neutral or positive use: a woman, a girl. Also as a form of address.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > woman > [noun]
wifeeOE
womaneOE
womanOE
queanOE
brideOE
viragoc1000
to wifeOE
burdc1225
ladyc1225
carlinec1375
stotc1386
marec1387
pigsneyc1390
fellowa1393
piecec1400
femalea1425
goddessa1450
fairc1450
womankindc1450
fellowessa1500
femininea1513
tega1529
sister?1532
minikinc1540
wyec1540
placket1547
pig's eye1553
hen?1555
ware1558
pussy?a1560
jade1560
feme1566
gentlewoman1567
mort1567
pinnacea1568
jug1569
rowen1575
tarleather1575
mumps1576
skirt1578
piga1586
rib?1590
puppy1592
smock1592
maness1594
sloy1596
Madonna1602
moll1604
periwinkle1604
Partlet1607
rib of man1609
womanship?1609
modicum1611
Gypsy1612
petticoata1616
runniona1616
birda1627
lucky1629
she-man1640
her1646
lost rib1647
uptails1671
cow1696
tittup1696
cummer17..
wife1702
she-woman1703
person1704
molly1706
fusby1707
goody1708
riding hood1718
birdie1720
faggot1722
piece of goods1727
woman body1771
she-male1776
biddy1785
bitch1785
covess1789
gin1790
pintail1792
buer1807
femme1814
bibi1816
Judy1819
a bit (also bundle) of muslin1823
wifie1823
craft1829
shickster?1834
heifer1835
mot1837
tit1837
Sitt1838
strap1842
hay-bag1851
bint1855
popsy1855
tart1864
woman's woman1868
to deliver the goods1870
chapess1871
Dona1874
girl1878
ladykind1878
mivvy1881
dudess1883
dudette1883
dudine1883
tid1888
totty1890
tootsy1895
floozy1899
dame1902
jane1906
Tom1906
frail1908
bit of stuff1909
quim1909
babe1911
broad1914
muff1914
manhole1916
number1919
rossie1922
bit1923
man's woman1928
scupper1935
split1935
rye mort1936
totsy1938
leg1939
skinny1941
Richard1950
potato1957
scow1960
wimmin1975
womyn1975
womxn1991
the world > people > person > child > girl > [noun]
maiden-childeOE
maidenOE
maidc1275
maid-childc1275
wenchc1290
thernec1300
lassc1325
maidenkinc1330
child-womana1382
girlc1400
pucelle1439
maidkin1440
mawther1440
mop1466
woman-child?1515
bonnea1529
urchina1535
kinchin-mort1567
dandiprat1582
prill1587
sluta1592
little girl1603
maggie1603
tendril1603
squall1607
childa1616
filly1616
vriester1652
miss1668
gilpie1720
lassie1725
laddess1768
jeune fillea1777
bitch1785
girly?1786
gal1795
ladyling1807
missikin1815
colleen1828
girleen1833
snowdrop1833
pinafore1836
chica1843
fillette1847
charity-girl1848
urchiness1852
Mädchen1854
gel1857
pusill1884
backfisch1888
girly-girly1888
cliner1895
tittie1918
weeny1929
bobby-soxer1944
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue To stand bitch, to make tea, or do the honours of the tea table, or performing a female part. Bitch there standing for woman, species for genus.
1896 W. Platt Love Triumphant 116 Oh great-hearted sweet bitch Emily Bronté, you too have I loved!
1960 R. G. Reisner Jazz Titans 150 Bitch also means girl or woman, but not in a derogatory sense. Example: I've got me a fine bitch.
1985 TV Times 31 Aug. 6/2 Porn queen Lili pouted the now famous question: ‘Which one of you bitches is my mother?’
2003 Globe & Mail (Canada) (Nexis) 26 Apr. (Globe Style section) l. 2 ‘You go, girl’ is out, it seems. ‘Go bitch’ is in.
2010 London Evening Standard (Nexis) 17 Sept. I was often the wronged young maiden and now I'm the kickass bitch.
2018 M. Markowitz & C. Moss Hey Ladies! 106 Hey bitches :) Read this amazing piece in Wired the other day about off-the-grid living.
4.
a. An unpleasant or despicable man; (also more neutrally) a man, a guy. Cf. dog n.1 5a. Scottish and Irish English in later use. Now rare except as merged with sense 4b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [noun] > as abused > male
bitch-sonc1330
whoresonc1330
bitcha1475
haga1529
conger1600
scarab1602
whore1609
scarabee1615
conger-head1630
bugger1694
sod?1835
a1475 Friar & Boy (Brogyntyn) in J. O. Halliwell Early Eng. Misc. (1855) 54 He ys a schrewd byche, In fayth, y trow, he be a wyche.
1591 (?a1425) Slaughter of the Innocents (Huntington) in R. M. Lumiansky & D. Mill Chester Myst. Cycle (1974) I. 197 (MED) Whom callest thou quean, scabd bitch?
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones VI. xvii. iii. 111 Landlord is a vast comical Bitch . View more context for this quotation
1767 T. Bridges Homer Travestie (ed. 2) II. x. 136 Just as he spoke this queer old bitch Gave a great jump across the ditch.
1784 Comical Sayings Pady from Cork (new ed.) 23 in Scotish Merrim. (1793) A great black bitch of a devil, which they keep for a hangman, who whips them up and down the smoaky dungeon every morning.
1809 T. Donaldson Poems 199 Sae write again ye souter bitch, An' for the future mind your stitch.
1893 R. L. Stevenson Catriona xi. 123 Ay, Davie, ye're a queer character..a queer bitch after a', and I have no mind of meeting with the like of ye.
1916 J. Joyce Portrait of Artist v. 203 Is your lazy bitch of a brother gone out yet?
b. colloquial (frequently derogatory and offensive). A homosexual man, esp. one considered to be effeminate; (in more general use) any man or boy regarded as being effeminate, weak, or cowardly (see also sense 5b). Also: a lesbian whose appearance, behaviour, identity, etc., is regarded as feminine. Often contrasted with butch: see butch n. 4b.Sometimes spec. with reference to homosexual men and lesbians: a partner who takes on a more submissive or passive role (either sexually or in a more general sense).
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-
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > male
badlingeOE
nan1670
molly1708
Miss Molly1754
Miss Nancy1824
molly mop1829
poof1833
Margery?c1855
Mary Ann1868
pretty-boy1881
cocksucker1885
poofter1889
queer1894
fruit1895
fairy1896
homosexualist1898
puff1902
pussy1904
nance1910
quean1910
girl1912
faggot1913
mouser1914
queen1919
fag1921
gay boy1921
maricon1921
pie-face1922
bitch1923
Jessie1923
tapette1923
pansy1926
nancy boy1927
nelly1931
femme1932
ponce1932
punk1933
queerie1933
gobbler1934
jocker1935
queenie1935
iron1936
freak1941
swish1941
flit1942
tonk1943
wonk1945
mother1947
fruitcake1952
Mary1953
twink1953
swishy1959
limp wrist1960
arse bandit1961
leather man1961
booty bandit1962
ginger beer1964
bummer1965
poofteroo1966
shirtlifter1966
battyman1967
dick-sucker1968
mo1968
a friend of Dorothy1972
shim1973
gaylord1976
twinkie1977
woofter1977
bender1986
knob jockey1989
batty boy1992
cake boy1992
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > female > whose appearance, behaviour, or identity is regarded as traditionally feminine
bitch1923
Margery1936
femme1947
Marge1957
mom1957
lipstick lesbian1983
1923 R. McAlmon Companion Vol. 214 Isn't it strange though how all the queer men in the United States are friends of mine—the bitches all love me.
1970 G. Greer Female Eunuch 293 All forms of lesbianism involve an invention of an alternative way of life, even if the male-female polarity survives in the relationship to the degree that there is butch and bitch within it.
1980 Maledicta 3 221 Effeminates are called many abusive names even within their own (homosexual) culture, from bitch to fluff to twit.
1984 ‘Pickles’ Queens 151 Do you fancy me? I bet you do! I don't mind, you know... Are you butch or bitch? Not that I'm interested!
1997 R. McKnight in Story Spring 110 Do I look dishonest to you, you weak bitch?
2014 C. M. Kiefer Light in Darkest Days 107 I was a whiny bitch of a husband.
5.
a. colloquial (originally U.S.; depreciative). Frequently with possessive adjective. A female prostitute managed or controlled by a pimp. Also: a man's girlfriend (frequently with some implication that she is required to make herself available sexually to others, or is otherwise subservient to him).
ΚΠ
1965 J. Charyn On Darkening Green iii. 58 Take care, Nick, and show your bitch who's the boss.
1966 Issues Criminol. 2 210 ‘Crystals’..enable pimps to work around the clock ‘taking care of business’, and seeing that his [sic] ‘bitches’ are protected against the onslaughts of competing hustlers.
1974 J. Nazel Black Cop (1993) vii. 85 ‘I'm not going to whore for you!’ Sue screamed. ‘I'm your sister, not your bitch!’
2000 T. Udo Vatican Bloodbath 52 Then, in the classic gangster tradition, he would take the Queen as his own bitch.
2016 Guardian (Nexis) 14 May I was looking for my bitch, uh. Sorry, right, my girlfriend. And she was off with another man, because she liked crack too much.
b. Prison slang. A vulnerable (typically male) inmate who serves as a submissive sexual partner for another prisoner in exchange for physical protection.
ΚΠ
1972 S. St. Cyr Saint & Sinners 71 This dude is my bitch whenever we are in the Parish Prison.
1987 Washington Post 7 Oct. c11/3 Nick chatted with prisoners, one of whom rose to identify himself and then, with an arm around a man next to him, said, ‘and this is my bitch’.
2013 M. Cutler Cowboy Justice xviii. 289 You'll rot in jail for the rest of your life as some prisoner's bitch.
c. colloquial. More generally: anyone who adopts a subservient role; one who performs menial tasks for others. Frequently with possessive adjective.
ΚΠ
2002 N.Y. Mag. 29 Apr. 41/1 I was an office bitch at an insurance company in Atlanta.
2010 G. Hutchison Breaking Bad (transcribed from TV programme) 3rd Ser. Episode 8 Yo, stop treating me like I'm your assistant. I'm not your bitch to order around.
2019 I. Manji Don't label Me x. 45 Yeah, Mama, it makes you feel more secure when I can be controlled but the truth is, I don't exist for your convenience. With all due respect, I'm not your bitch.
6. colloquial. A malicious or catty gossip; a person (of either sex) who bitches (in sense 2).
ΚΠ
1966 W. Woolfolk Opinion of Court vi. 84 Eleanor said indignantly, ‘Nancy!’ ‘That was uncalled for,’ Paul Lowe said. ‘I'm sorry. I know I'm being a bitch. But I can't help myself. When you're miserable you can't help making other people a little unhappy too.’
1978 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 28 Feb. Being a bitch in print is the easiest thing in the world. I may nick a little here and nick a little there, but none of the wounds ever require sewing up.
2000 Observer 30 July (Screen section) 3/1 Carol: (whispering) Well, I don't like to gossip divisively about prettier, younger women, but Anna's a tennis player. They're all lesbians... Jerry: (overhearing) Carol honey, you are such a bitch!
2009 H. Freeman Meaning of Sunglasses (rev. ed.) 115 There are many reasons to love Karl Lagerfeld, but number one has got to be because—and this is meant in truly the best, most respectful of ways—he is such a fantastic bitch.
III. Senses referring chiefly to a thing.
7.
a. colloquial. A difficult or unpleasant situation or thing.See also life's a bitch at Phrases 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > [noun] > that which is difficult > a difficult thing or person
sluta1475
nut1540
Tartar1669
bitch1699
handful1755
tickler1825
pebble1829
hard ticket1847
tough nut1862
bear1876
Roger1885
trier1893
peb1903
heller1923
pawful1925
honey1932
sod1936
toughie1945
motherfucker1948
hard-arse1966
1699 Weekly Comedy 7 June I told 'em..that I never Respected such Usage from 'em, bidding them do what they pleas'd with their Sluggish Bitch of a Pink, for the Devil should Sail in her again before I would.
1792 tr. D. Chavis & M. Cazotte Arabian Tales II. 381 It is my bitch of a star that forces me to eat almost continually.
1904 R. Kipling Traffics & Discov. 165 After eight years, my father, cheated by your bitch of a country, he found out who was the upper dog in South Africa.
1931 T. E. Lawrence Let. 10 June (1938) 722 ‘She’ says the incarnate sailor, stroking the gangway of the Iron Duke, ‘can be a perfect bitch in a cross-sea.’
1972 N. C. Heard To reach Dream viii. 97 He remembered what some wit had told him once: ‘Payback is a bitch.’
1990 Rolling Stone 5 Apr. 32/1 The same elements that make for great-sounding CDs can be a bitch to translate into live performance.
2013 K. Alexander He said, She Said 142 ‘Karma is a bitch, Omar. Watch your back,’ she says.
b. slang. In neutral use: any object or thing.Often with some suggestion that the thing in question is troublesome, difficult to handle, etc. Cf. sense 7a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > materiality > [noun] > thing or material object
thingOE
bodya1398
objecta1398
substance1525
cheat1567
solidity1604
article1618
material objecta1651
res extensa1652
extensum1678
businessa1684
animal1729
materiate1755
affair1763
thingy1787
fellow1816
concern1824
jockey1827
toy1895
yoke1910
doojigger1927
bitch1951
1951 A. W. Upfield New Shoe 109 Old bitch's [sc. car's] boilin.
1988 C. Alden Black Falcon iii. 40 Let's get this bitch in the air already.
2009 @the_advisor 27 May in twitter.com (accessed 22 Aug. 2018) I am now the proud owner of an STI. I just gotta get this bitch on the road.
2018 Hollywood Reporter (Nexis) 19 July Put some cheese in the bitch.
8. North American. A rudimentary oil lamp with a cloth wick, made from a recycled tin can and fuelled by tallow. Cf. slut n. 6a, kitchen bitch n. at kitchen n.1 Compounds 6b. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > artificial light defined by light-source > [noun] > oil-lamp > types of
lampion1848
rag-lamp1889
bitch1898
chirag1899
Phoebe lamp1935
diya1964
Toc H lamp1977
1898 Forest & Stream 3 Dec. 442/1 Our light was furnished by a bacon grease lamp (called ‘bitch’ for short on the Yukon).
1904 E. Robins Magn. North i. 233 ‘I'll light a piece of fat pine,’ shouted the Boy... ‘Where's your bitch?’ said Dillon... ‘Haven't you got a condensed milk can with some bacon grease in it, and a rag wick?’
1941 M. Whipple Giant Joshua vi. 147 It's black as pitch in here, I'll give you one of the candles to use in place of that bitch.
1961 Canad. Geogr. Jrnl. Jan. 14/2 ‘Office’ work was done by candlelight and sometimes by nothing better than a ‘bitch’—a wick in a shallow tin of tallow.
9.
a. colloquial (originally U.S.). An act of complaining, or of airing a grievance; (also) a grounds for complaint or grievance. Cf. bitch v. 2c.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > displeasure > discontent or dissatisfaction > state of complaining > [noun] > a complaint
plainta1275
groinc1374
complaintc1385
murmura1393
grutchc1460
plainc1475
yammer?a1513
puling?1529
objecting1552
obmurmuration1571
regratea1586
repine1593
grumblinga1616
grumble1623
dissatisfactionc1640
obmurmuring1642
rumbling1842
natter1866
grouch1895
beef1900
holler1901
squawk1909
moan1911
yip1911
grouse1918
gripe1934
crib1943
bitch1945
drip1945
kvetch1957
1945 Yank 6 Apr. 17/1 He was a kindly, fatherly type. He'd listen to any guy's bitches, never interrupting or making the guy feel like he was wasting his time.
1962 G. Snyder Let. 12 July in A. Ginsberg & G. Snyder Sel. Lett. (2009) 57 The point is, and this is my only objection to homosexuality as it works on some people, that it takes precedence over everything else... Well that's my bitch at the moment.
1987 Sunday Express Mag. 25 Jan. 64/4 Some of the serious racers..have a bitch about how they can't ride them properly.
2003 Daily Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 13 June 10 My main bitch with CityRail..is the connection at Hornsby.
b. colloquial. An act of engaging in (esp. mildly) malicious gossip. Frequently in to have a bitch (chiefly British). Cf. bitch v. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > displeasure > discontent or dissatisfaction > state of complaining > [noun] > action of complaining
yomeringc1000
grutching?c1225
plainingc1300
complaintc1384
murmurc1385
murmurationc1390
groiningc1405
grudgingc1420
musinga1425
querimonyc1450
storming1461
mutteringc1475
grudge1477
grunching1487
murmuringc1530
muting1542
repining1550
orpingc1598
maundering1611
oggannition1625
jowering1628
remonstrating1647
regrudginga1677
complaining1702
pesting1705
yammering1705
growling1752
pine1804
gruntling1834
bitching1939
griping1945
pissing1947
bitch1975
kitchen-sinking1975
1975 Films & Filming Oct. 12/1 I was having a bitch about the Royal Court at the time, because it's the kind of place you can have a good bitch about if you feel like it: it lives and thrives on that kind of back-stabbing atmosphere, like all good theatres do.
1998 Daily Tel. 13 Mar. 31/2 He has been talking outside the office and having a bitch about the company.
2007 ‘Liz & Julie’ You F'Coffee Sir?!!! 322 We were ready to start a bitch about him when the call bell went again.
2017 @AV_georgia 7 July in twitter.com (accessed 17 Oct. 2017) Love having a bitch about stuff with my cousin.
10. U.S. slang. A great, excellent, or wonderful person or thing.Chiefly used in reference to jazz or blues music and musicians.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > excellent person or thing
carbunclea1350
swanc1386
phoenixc1400
diamondc1440
broocha1464
surmounterc1500
sovereign?a1513
primrose peerless1523
superlative1577
transcendent1593
Arabian birda1616
crack1637
first rate1681
peach1710
phoenicle1711
admiration1717
spanker1751
first-raterc1760
no slouch of1767
nailer1806
tip-topper1822
ripper1825
ripstaver1828
apotheosis1832
clinker1836
clipper1836
bird1839
keener1839
ripsnorter1840
beater1845
firecracker1845
pumpkin1845
screamer1846
stunner1847
bottler1855
beaut1866
bobby-dazzler1866
one out of the box1867
stem-winder1875
corker1877
trimmer1878
hot stuff1884
daisy1886
jim-dandy1887
cracker1891
jim-hickey1895
peacherino1896
pippin1897
alpha plus1898
peacherine1900
pip1900
humdinger1905
bosker1906
hummer1907
good egg1914
superstar1914
the berries1918
bee's knee1923
the cat's whiskers1923
smash1923
smash hit1923
brahma1925
dilly1935
piss-cutter1935
killer1937
killer-diller1938
a hard act to follow1942
peacheroo1942
bitch1946
brammerc1950
hot shit1960
Tiffany1973
bollocks1981
1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues i. 13 That boy was really a bitch, even though he was never taught to play music.
1959 Esquire Nov. 70 h Bitch, something very good. Example: That tune is a bitch.
1966 Crescendo Dec. 20/1 That's one of the greatest bassists of all time on there—George Duvivier. Very underrated—but he is a bitch, believe me.
1978 R. Price Ladies' Man 7 If I had any balls I'd quit, go back to school and get a teaching degree. I'd teach English. Books. Books were bitches.
2016 J. Glatt Live at Fillmore East & West xxviii. 361 And now, a bitch of a band from the East Bay—Tower of Power.
Phrases
P1. colloquial. In similative phrases indicating extremity or intensity. Cf. fuck n. Phrases 4, shit n. and adj. Phrases 9.
ΚΠ
1940 R. Ellison Afternoon in S. Alexander et al. Amer. Writing 28 ‘High as a bitch!’ he said. ‘It aint so high I bet I caint hit that glass on the end there.’
1964 V. S. Naipaul Baker's Story in Kenyon Rev. 26 472 He uses [sic] to work like a bitch, too.
1992 D. Coupland Shampoo Planet ix. 43 Dan is, or rather was, a land developer and was ‘rich as a bitch’ (his joke; what a yuckster).
2018 @lilnaadiaa 11 Aug. in twitter.com (accessed 14 Aug. 2018) To whoever hasn't gotten their wisdom teeth pulled out, I hope y'all don't suffer like I am right now cause that shit hurts like a bitch.
P2. life's a bitch: expressing resigned acceptance of a difficult, unpleasant, or unfair situation. Also in various humorous aphorisms, esp. in life's a bitch, and then you die.
ΚΠ
1940 L. Hughes Big Sea ii. 183 Life's a bitch, but I'll beat it—and stay here, too.
1974 Cardinal Points (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) 7 Mar. 12/3 Smile: Life's a bitch.
1984 Cycle World Dec. 7/1 I think the inscription on my friend Charlie's T-shirt says it best: ‘Life's a bitch, and then you die.’
1995 C. Bateman Divorcing Jack xxi. 182 I've been up all night and now I've to go to work. Life's a bitch.
2008 T. Griffith Reed in Wind 182 ‘Life's a bitch, and then you marry one,’ Blood Foot stated, with an amused chuckle.
P3. U.S. slang. in this bitch: in this place, ‘right here’. Frequently in up in this bitch.
ΚΠ
1991 alt.surfing 12 June (Usenet newsgroup, accessed 28 Sept. 2018) Lets [sic] not forget jet skis..just to cover all areas in this bitch.
1999 D. Century Street Kingdom ii. 72 Oh shit! Look at the new jacks! Fresh meat up in this bitch!
2012 J. Tomsky Heads in Beds i. 18 Now we got some Beethoven up in this bitch. Classical, ya dig?
Compounds
C1. General use as a modifier, and with other nouns denoting animals with the sense ‘that is a bitch’ (in senses 1 and 2).
ΚΠ
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1905) II. 361 Sho wolde not consent vnto a yong man þat luffid hur to be his luff, þus sho was shapen to be a biche whelpe.
1569 E. Spenser tr. J. du Bellay Sonets in T. Roest tr. J. van der Noot Theatre Worldlings sig. Cvv At his feete a bitch Wolfe did giue sucke To two yong babes.
a1687 C. Cotton Aeneid Burlesqued (1692) 70 I saw Mischievous bitchfox Helena.
1787 J. Hunter in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 77 255 My Lord Clanbrassil purchased a Bitch-puppy.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan III. 265 The whelp of a bitch-catamount.
1948 Townsville (Queensland) Daily Bull. 1 Jan. 2/5 More than 200 armed men are planning an all-out drive in the Gore and Karrara districts..to kill a bitch dingo which has destroyed 2000 sheep.
1988 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 30 May d13 Delia returns to find her husband dying, her girls living with their stiff-necked grandmother and her own reputation cemented as ‘the bitch-whelp who abandoned her young’.
2016 Sunday Times (Nexis) 14 Feb. 7 The bitch fox heeds him not.
C2. derogatory and offensive. With other nouns with the sense ‘that is a bitch’ (in sense 3a).See also bitch goddess n. at Compounds 3.
ΚΠ
1642 E. Reed Let. 24 Apr. in Hist MSS Comm.: 12th Rep., App. Pt. II: MSS Earl Cowper (1888) 314 in Parl. Papers (C. 5613) LXIII. 497 I hear that Mr. Hollis since he married a bitch wife is not so violent in the House as he was.
1669 W. Carr Pluto Furens ii. 14 Speak such another word, and I will turn your neck round, you damn'd-bitch-whore.
1955 N.Y. Times 31 July (Bk. Rev.) 4 These [officials] included Evans, the general manager..and Benton, his subordinate, pitied by the colony for his bitch wife.
1999 T. Etchells Endland Stories 115 Some bitch photographer called Dorothea Lange starts hanging round the shack, taking pictures.
2012 B. Woolston Catch & Release 174 I've seen that at the Kid-O-Korral when some bitch mom dropped her little guy off for Mom's Night Out.
C3. † bitch-baby n. Obsolete rare (apparently) used as a term of abuse for a person; cf. son of a bitch n. 1a.In quot. used to liken a male character to a baby who comes between two people in bed (see bodkin n. 6). † bitch daughter n. Obsolete any of various afflictions personified as a female demon, esp. a nightmare; chiefly in to be ridden by the bitch daughter; cf. hag n.1 5a.† bitch-hunter n. Obsolete rare a man who goes in pursuit of women for sexual gratification; a lecher.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [noun] > as abused
warlockOE
swinec1175
beastc1225
wolf's-fista1300
avetrolc1300
congeonc1300
dirtc1300
slimec1315
snipec1325
lurdanc1330
misbegetc1330
sorrowa1350
shrew1362
jordan1377
wirlingc1390
frog?a1400
warianglea1400
wretcha1400
horcop14..
turdc1400
callet1415
lotterela1450
paddock?a1475
souter1478
chuff?a1500
langbain?c1500
cockatrice1508
sow1508
spink1508
wilrone1508
rook?a1513
streaker?a1513
dirt-dauber?1518
marmoset1523
babiona1529
poll-hatcheta1529
bear-wolf1542
misbegotten1546
pig1546
excrement1561
mamzer1562
chuff-cat1563
varlet1566
toada1568
mandrake1568
spider1568
rat1571
bull-beef1573
mole-catcher1573
suppository1573
curtal1578
spider-catcher1579
mongrela1585
roita1585
stickdirta1585
dogfish1589
Poor John1589
dog's facec1590
tar-boxa1592
baboon1592
pot-hunter1592
venom1592
porcupine1594
lick-fingers1595
mouldychaps1595
tripe1595
conundrum1596
fat-guts1598
thornback1599
land-rat1600
midriff1600
stinkardc1600
Tartar1600
tumbril1601
lobster1602
pilcher1602
windfucker?1602
stinker1607
hog rubber1611
shad1612
splay-foot1612
tim1612
whit1612
verdugo1616
renegado1622
fish-facea1625
flea-trapa1625
hound's head1633
mulligrub1633
nightmare1633
toad's-guts1634
bitch-baby1638
shagamuffin1642
shit-breech1648
shitabed1653
snite1653
pissabed1672
bastard1675
swab1687
tar-barrel1695
runt1699
fat-face1740
shit-sack1769
vagabond1842
shick-shack1847
soor1848
b1851
stink-pot1854
molie1871
pig-dog1871
schweinhund1871
wind-sucker1880
fucker1893
cocksucker1894
wart1896
so-and-so1897
swine-hound1899
motherfucker1918
S.O.B.1918
twat1922
mong1926
mucker1929
basket1936
cowson1936
zombie1936
meatball1937
shower1943
chickenshit1945
mugger1945
motherferyer1946
hooer1952
morpion1954
mother1955
mother-raper1959
louser1960
effer1961
salaud1962
gunk1964
scunge1967
1638 J. Ford Fancies iv. 54 Where but two lie in a bed you must be Bodkin bitch-baby must ye.
bitch-clout n. now archaic and rare used as a term of abuse for a woman.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [noun] > as abused > female
visenagec1460
bitch-clout?a1475
harlot?c1500
tarleather1575
whipperginnie1593
brach1612
city wire1616
she-dog1624
cunt1663
faggot1722
son of a bitch1936
?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 205 Com forth þou hore and stynkynge bych clowte.
1993 L. Kinsale For my Lady's Heart xviii. 280 Stinking bitch-clout, does thou breathe still?
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > dream > [noun] > nightmare
bitch daughter?c1475
nightmare1562
hag1598
nightmare dream1763
daymare dream1796
night horse1840
?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 13v Þe Bychdowȝhter, epialtis, epialta, noxa.
1740 H. Bracken Farriery Improv'd II. iv. 94 That ridiculously foolish Notion among Country People (viz.) That of a Horse's being rid by the Bitch-Daughter, as they term it.
1743 H. Bracken Traveller's Pocket-farrier 37 He who will not allow his Horse the Quantity of Oats, &c. that I have mentioned, should ride slowly and short Stages, otherwise 'tis an even Wager such Horse will be rid by the same Bitch-daughter in the Night, which rides the Owner by Day.
1824 W. Carr Horæ Momenta Cravenæ 11 At times she stinns feafully in her douvens, we consate shoe's ridden be th' bitch doughter.
bitchfest n. colloquial an exchange of spiteful or malicious comments (cf. sense 9b); (also) a relationship or interaction characterized by hostility or conflict.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > malediction > [noun] > abusive language > exchange of
flite1768
slanging match1896
insult1964
bitchfest1985
society > society and the community > dissent > contention or strife > [noun] > an act or instance of > a hostile encounter
encounter1297
counterc1330
brusha1400
recountering1410
recountera1470
encountering1482
re-encounter1525
re-encountry1569
passage1608
congression?1611
confronta1626
traverse1640
clash1646
congress1646
conjunction1648
head-to-head1899
go-around1912
mano a mano1950
face-off1956
bitchfest1985
1985 Daily Herald (Chicago) 28 Oct. (Arlington Heights ed.) ii. 2/4 Carol and her friend engage in a bitch fest.
1998 Cosmopolitan (U.K. ed.) Aug. 116/1 Instead of using revenge to relieve her anger, she should have revelled in it with an all-night bitch-fest with some of her girlfriends.
2015 Teen Vogue Nov. 92/2 There's no way that many egos on one set wouldn't be the ultimate bitchfest.
bitch fight n. colloquial a vicious fight or altercation, esp. between women or homosexual men; cf. catfight n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > quarrel or quarrelling > [noun] > noisy or angry quarrel > instance of
ganglinga1387
altercation1410
brawla1500
heat1549
wranglea1555
brabble1566
paroxysm1578
wrangling1580
brangle1600
branglement1617
rixation1623
row1746
skimmington1753
mêlée1765
breeze1785
squeal1788
hash1789
rook1808
blow-up1809
blowout1825
scena1826
reerie1832
catfight1854
barney1855
wigs on the green1856
bull and cow1859
scrap1890
slanging match1896
snap1897
up-and-downer1927
brannigan1941
rhubarb1941
bitch fight1949
punch-up1958
shout-up1965
shouting match1970
1949 H. Baer O, Huge Angel iii. ii. 103 The others sitting by them only turned around drunkenly and, accustomed to the bitch-fights in the City, they said nothing.
1974 College Eng. 36 276 The brio and brilliance of a recognizable homosexual style or manner, whether it be the trashy epithets and outrageous puns of a bitch fight or the unsurpassed wit of Oscar Wilde.
2017 Metro (National ed.) (Nexis) 11 Oct. 26 Famous for big hair, big egos and the biggest bitch fights on TV, the 1980s saga of the Carrington clan is up there in the list of all-time camp classics.
bitch fou adj. (also bitch fu') Scottish extremely drunk; cf. fou adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk > completely or very drunk
drunk as a (drowned) mousea1350
to-drunka1382
as drunk as the devilc1400
sow-drunk1509
fish-drunk1591
swine-drunk1592
gone1603
far gone1616
reeling drunk1620
soda1625
souseda1625
blind1630
full1631
drunk (also merry, tipsy) as a lord1652
as full (or tight) as a tick1678
clear1688
drunk (dull, mute) as a fish1700
as drunk as David's sow or as a sow1727
as drunk as a piper1728
blind-drunkc1775
bitch foua1796
blootered1820
whole-seas over1820
three sheets in the wind1821
as drunk as a loon1830
shellaced1881
as drunk as a boiled owl1886
stinking1887
steaming drunk1892
steaming with drink1897
footless1901
legless1903
plastered1912
legless drunk1926
stinko1927
drunk as a pissant1930
kaylied1937
langers1949
stoned1952
smashed1962
shit-faced1963
out of (also off) one's bird1966
trashed1966
faced1968
stoned1968
steaming1973
langered1979
annihilated1980
obliterated1984
wankered1992
muntered1998
a1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 297 I've been..bitch fou 'mang godly priests.
1842 R. M. Stupart Harp of Strila 40 And some, bitch fu', are sound asleep.
1972 R. Crichton Camerons xviii. 272 But he would be back, Gillon knew, and he would get drunk, sweeping out drunk, fou, bitch fou.
bitch goddess n. (chiefly with the) material or worldly success, or (later) any greatly desired goal, personified as a cruel goddess to be worshipped.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > [noun] > as a goddess
bitch goddess1906
1906 W. James Let. 11 Sept. (1920) II. 260 A symptom of the moral flabbiness born of the exclusive worship of the bitch-goddess success.
1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover ix. 125 He realized now that the bitch-goddess of success had two main appetites: one for flattery, adulation, stroking and tickling such as writers and artists gave her; but the other a grimmer appetite for meat and bones.
1963 M. Schisgal Tiger in Typists & Tiger 102 That's all they think about. Money, the bitch-goddess! They're all after it.
2006 L. Roberts We'll always have Cleveland ii. 19 Progress, the bitch goddess, must be served, and the pitiless wrecking ball swings in Cleveland as often as anywhere else.
2014 C. D'Ambrosio Loitering iii. 282 A man making a Faustian pact with the bitch goddess Success to win back the love of a woman.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > lasciviousness or lust > [noun] > lascivious or lustful person > lecher
lecherc1175
lechererc1380
router1531
twigger1573
luxur1604
bitch-hunter1611
whorehopper1664
swinge-bow1675
tomcat1884
chippy chaser1887
alley cat1911
lech1943
stoata1960
shark1981
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues S'Appaillarder, to spend his life in, or giue himselfe wholly to, whoorisme; to turne leacher, smell-smocke, bitch-hunter, whooremunger.
bitch-son n. now rare used as a term of abuse for a man; cf. son of a bitch n. 1a.Quot. 2013 is from a work of historical fiction.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [noun] > as abused > male
bitch-sonc1330
whoresonc1330
bitcha1475
haga1529
conger1600
scarab1602
whore1609
scarabee1615
conger-head1630
bugger1694
sod?1835
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 8477 Biche-sone þou drawest amis.
2013 M. Jecks Templar's Acre (2014) i. iii. 22 It's that Genoese bitch-son, Buscarel.
bitch tits n. slang (originally Bodybuilding) enlarged breasts on a man.The term originally arose among the bodybuilding community, with reference to enlarged breasts in men as a possible side effect of steroid use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > breast or breasts (of woman) > [noun] > analogous part in male
breasteOE
bitch tits1983
mammaries1990
1983 Physician & Sportsmedicine Sept. 99/1 This condition, known pejoratively as ‘bitch tits’, often requires cosmetic surgery.
1998 J. Uhls Fight Club (film script) (O.E.D. Archive) 4 He developed bitch tits because his testosterone ration was too high and it caused his body to up the estrogen.
2017 New Statesman 30 June 59/4 Even when he appeared in the film Fight Club, his character made reference to having had hormone treatment in order to explain his natural ‘bitch tits’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
bitchn.2
/bɪtʃ/, U.S. /bɪtʃ/α. 1600s– bitch, 1800s biche.
β. 1800s beache, 1800s bèche, 1800s bêche, 1800s beché, 1800s–1900s beche, 1900s béche.
Mining.
Any of various devices for gripping or securing boring rods, pipes, etc.; esp. (in early use) a tool in the form of a rod ending in a tapering cavity which can be pushed over a boring rod to secure it, esp. when removing a broken rod from a borehole; (in later use) a flat tool with two prongs and a central slot.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > clutching or gripping equipment > [noun] > for recovering rods or tools
bitch1634
finger grip1820
box-bill1881
α.
β. 1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 966 The beché, for catching the rod when it breaks in the bore.1855 G. C. Greenwell Pract. Treat. Mine Engin. iv. 113 The rounder resembles a bèche externally, but it is solid and well steeled at the bottom.1891 C. PAMELY Colliery Manager's Hand-bk. ii. 11 In case of the rods breaking, the part above the fracture is withdrawn, the bêche being screwed on to take the place of the broken rod. It is then lowered sharply on to the broken rods in the hole.1906 G. M. Bailes Mod. Mining Pract. III. 6 The beche..has the same shape as the bell-screw, but differs from it by not being threaded internally.1634 in J. W. Legg & W. H. St. J. Hope Inventories of Christchurch, Canterbury (1902) 259 2 paire of Iron bitches to draw up leade.
1747 W. Hooson Miners Dict. sig. D For drawing up the Rods, we have to hold them an Iron Instrument called a Bitch, and for unscrewing them, two more we call Dogs.
1849 G. C. Greenwell Gloss. Terms Coal Trade Northumberland & Durham 8 Beche (called by the workmen Bitch), an instrument..used in boring, for the purpose of extricating the bottom portion of a broken set of bore-rods from a bore-hole.
1921 C. Isler Well-boring (ed. 3) ix. 210 (caption Fig. O.) Automatic rod bitch to safely rest and secure rods when connecting previous to lowering, and disconnecting when withdrawing tools in and out of bore-hole.
1990 R. Rowles Drilling for Water iii. 66/2 Do ensure that your bitch is in good condition and the correct size. What is a bitch? It's like a slip plate that holds the auger string in the working table.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2021; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
bitchv.
/bɪtʃ/, U.S. /bɪtʃ/ colloquial. † 3. intransitive. To back down, to yield. Obsolete. rare.
1. transitive. To call (a person, esp. a woman) a bitch.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [verb (intransitive)] > obscene oaths
bitch1707
1707 Diverting Muse 131 Why how now, crys Venus, altho you're my Spouse, [If] you Bitch me, you Brute, have a care of your Brows.
1709 E. Ward Secret Hist. Clubs xi. 99 A Leaden-Hall Butcher would be Bitching his Wife, for not only opening her Placket, but her Pocket-Apron to his rogue of a Journeyman.
1782 Trial Sir Francis Blake Delaval 60 I am afraid Mr. Fitzgerald will do my lady some mischief, for he has been damning and bitching her the whole evening.
1972 Washington Post 17 May a14/4 ‘Watch yourself, bitch.’ The black boy replied, ‘don't you bitch me you honky.’
2013 N. Lewis Englishman (e-book, accessed 16 Aug. 2018) xiii. ‘You gotta slap them right if they don't act right... bitch.’... ‘Don't bitch me, buster.’
2.
a. transitive. To behave like a bitch towards (a person); to be spiteful, malicious, or unfair to (a person); to let (a person) down.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > spitefulness > [verb (transitive)]
bitch1764
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > unkindness > spite, malice > treat maliciously [verb (transitive)]
malicea1547
spite1581
spite1598
bitch1764
to get or have one's knife into1890
1764 D. Garrick Let. 23 Aug. (1963) II. 423 I am a little at a loss what You will do for a Woman Tragedian to stare & tremble wth yr Heroes, if Yates should bitch You—but she must come.
1822 W. Hazlitt Let. 31 May (1978) 264 She would not agree to ‘a tie’, because she would leave herself open to any new pretender that answered her purpose better, and bitch me without ceremony or mercy.
1934 E. Waugh Handful of Dust ii. 58 I quite enjoy coping—in fact I'm bitching him rather.
1936 D. Powell Turn, Magic Wheel ii. 125 She'd been bitched by everyone else..so that she wouldn't be surprised to have me leave her there in the rain.
1958 B. Hamilton Too Much of Water xi. 248 She'd started bitching him from the beginning, with every man in sight.
1991 N. Mailer Harlot's Ghost ii. xvi. 382 I do not forgive most people who bitch me.
b. intransitive. To engage in spiteful or malicious criticism or gossip, esp. about another person; to talk spitefully or cattily about.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > spitefulness > [verb (intransitive)]
bitch1915
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > unkindness > spite, malice > bear malice [verb (intransitive)]
spitc1386
malign?a1439
to bear malice1530
spitec1560
malice1587
to wish one at vinegar1774
bitch1915
1915 G. Cannan Young Earnest i. x. 92 It's the women bitching at you got into your blood.
1963 Listener 7 Feb. 263/1 A very Mayfair cast of a new play bitched and intrigued at a rehearsal with much verisimilitude and some wit.
2011 C. Moran How to be Woman (2012) iv. 85 There is currently this idea that feminists aren't supposed to bitch about each other.
c. intransitive. Originally U.S. To grumble, to complain (about something, or at someone).Frequently collocated with moan.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > displeasure > discontent or dissatisfaction > state of complaining > complain [verb (intransitive)]
murkeOE
misspeakOE
yomer971
chidea1000
murkenOE
grutch?c1225
mean?a1300
hum13..
plainta1325
gruntc1325
plainc1325
musea1382
murmurc1390
complain1393
contrary1393
flitec1400
pinea1425
grummec1430
aggrudge1440
hoinec1440
mutterc1450
grudge1461
channerc1480
grunch1487
repine1529
storm?1553
expostulate1561
grumblea1586
gruntle1591
chunter1599
swagger1599
maunder1622
orp1634
objurgate1642
pitter1672
yelp1706
yammer1794
natter1804
murgeon1808
groan1816
squawk1875
jower1879
grouse1887
beef1888
to whip the cat1892
holler1904
yip1907
peeve1912
grouch1916
nark1916
to sound off1918
create1919
moana1922
crib1925
tick1925
bitch1930
gripe1932
bind1942
drip1942
kvetchc1950
to rag on1979
wrinch2011
1930 Amer. Speech 5 238 [Colgate University slang] He bitched about the course.
1936 Stanford Daily 13 Oct. 3/1 He is always moaning and bitching about Stanford and nobody pays any attention to him any more.
1954 ‘J. Christopher’ Twenty-second Cent. 68 Tele did a damned fine job. It'll be a long time before I bitch at Saguki again.
1991 D. Simon Homicide (1993) 118 McLarney might bitch and moan and keep his distance from the Scott case, but Worden doesn't believe he would undercut his own detectives.
2008 A. Proulx in New Yorker 9 June 82/1 A man, she thought, was supposed to endure pain, cowboy up, and not bitch about it all day long.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > unwillingness > be unwilling [verb (intransitive)]
nillOE
loathea1200
to make it tough1297
forthinka1300
reckc1300
ruea1400
to make (it) strangec1405
to make strangenessc1407
stick1418
resistc1425
to make (it) strange?1456
steek1478
tarrowc1480
doubt1483
sunyie1488
to make (it) nice1530
stay1533
shentc1540
to make courtesy (at)1542
to make it scrupulous1548
to think (it) much1548
to make dainty of (anything)1555
to lie aback1560
stand1563
steek1573
to hang back1581
erch1584
to make doubt1586
to hang the groin1587
to make scruple (also a, no, etc., scruple)1589
yearn1597
to hang the winga1601
to make squeamish1611
smay1632
bogglea1638
to hang off1641
waver1643
reluct1648
shy1650
reluctate1655
stickle1656
scruple1660
to make boggle1667
revere1689
begrudge1690
to have scruples1719
stopc1738
bitch1777
reprobate1779
crane1823
disincline1885
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > abstain or refrain from action [verb (intransitive)] > refrain from pursuing something
bitch1777
to back down1849
to back off1961
to pussy out1967
1777 E. Burke Let. 9 May in Corr. (1961) III. 339 Norton bitched a little at last, but though he would recede; Fox stuck to his motion.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue To bitch, to yield, or give up an attempt through fear.
4. transitive. To ruin, spoil, mess up; to botch. Frequently with up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > be unskilled in [verb (transitive)] > bungle
botch1530
bungle1530
mumble1588
muddle1605
mash1642
bumble?1719
to fall through ——1726
fuck1776
blunder1805
to make a mull of1821
bitch1823
mess1823
to make a mess of1834
smudge1864
to muck up1875
boss1887
to make balls of1889
duff1890
foozle1892
bollocks1901
fluff1902
to make a muck of1903
bobble1908
to ball up1911
jazz1914
boob1915
to make a hash of1920
muff1922
flub1924
to make a hat of1925
to ass up1932
louse1934
screw1938
blow1943
to foul up1943
eff1945
balls1947
to make a hames of1947
to arse up1951
to fuck up1967
dork1969
sheg1981
bodge1984
1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang 11 To bitch a business, to spoil it, by aukwardness, fear, or want of strength.
1845 H. W. Herbert Warwick Woodlands 83 The first day or two, you bitched it badly.
1856 C. Reade It is never too Late III. iii. 18 You will bitch my schemes and lose your fifty pounds.
1928 B. Hecht & C. MacArthur Front Page iii. 150 You've just bitched up my whole life!
1931 R. Kipling Limits & Renewals (1932) 197 'Reg'lar lower-deck palaver. Jemmy damned 'em all for bitchin' the evolution.
1958 J. Wain Contenders 188 I was in a hurry to..begin the hunt for Ned, before Robert had a chance to do anything to bitch it up.
2001 W. L. Ripley Springer's Gambit xx. 171 While he didn't like it that these two muscle-bound bozos had bitched the job, Gerry wasn't broken-hearted.
5. transitive. Chiefly North American. With out. To scold or severely reprimand (a person). Cf. bawl v. 3c.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > rebuke or reproof > rebuke or reprove [verb (transitive)] > severely
dressc1405
wipe1523
to take up1530
whip1530
to shake upa1556
trounce1607
castigatea1616
lasha1616
objurgate1616
thunderstrike1638
snub1672
drape1683
cut1737
rowa1798
score1812
to dress down1823
to pitch into ——1823
wig1829
to row (a person) up1838
to catch or get Jesse1839
slate1840
drop1853
to drop (down) to or on (to)1859
to give (a person) rats1862
to jump upon1868
to give (a person) fits1871
to give it to someone (pretty) stiff1880
lambaste1886
ruck1899
bollock1901
bawl1903
scrub1911
burn1914
to hang, draw, and quarter1930
to tear a strip off1940
to tear (someone) off a strip1940
brass1943
rocket1948
bitch1952
tee1955
fan-
1952 L. Peterson Merry let us Part (typescript, Library of Congress Copyright Drama Deposit Coll. No. DU32040) i. 19 Yeh! Yeh! I know. I caught their sympathy when Miss Crowley was bitching me out.
1974 ‘J. Fry’ in ‘J. Fry’ & R. Bogdan Being Different ii. 38 My father went by and bitched me out because I was acting like a baby playing with a doll.
1984 J. McInerney Bright Lights, Big City 21 When she's bitching you out, you have wanted to say: Why don't you just admit you hurt?
2008 A. M. Goldsher Today's Special vii. 91 Anna has loudly, eloquently, and profanely bitched out these purveyors at one point or another, and they're all now a little frightened of her.
Derivatives
ˈbitched adj. ruined, spoiled; = bitched-up adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > bungling > bungled
bungled1787
muffed1876
boggled1877
blundered1880
bitched-up1893
foozled1899
bitched1918
trashed1926
mucked-up1930
loused-up1948
cocked-up1955
screwed1955
1918 E. Pound Let. 12 Dec. in Pound/Joyce (1970) 148 The Signore Sterlina is perhaps better at digging up corpses of let us say Li Po..than in preserving this bitched mess of modernity.
1965 W. D. Snodgrass in Hudson Rev. 18 67 If I go free To pogue this bitched world, I ask no requital.
ˈbitched-up adj. ruined, spoiled; = bitched adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > bungling > bungled
bungled1787
muffed1876
boggled1877
blundered1880
bitched-up1893
foozled1899
bitched1918
trashed1926
mucked-up1930
loused-up1948
cocked-up1955
screwed1955
1893 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang III. 30/2 Floored. Vanquished; brought under; ruined... English Synonyms..bitched-up,..buggered up.
1937 E. St. V. Millay Conv. at Midnight ii. 58 Can't you let the poor benighted bitched-up country go to hell in peace?
2012 D. Weber Midst Toil & Tribulation 665 Let's get your arse—and as many of your men as you can—out of this bitched-up mess.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2021; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1OE
n.21634v.1707- not to trust as far as one can throw her
- not to trust as far as one can throw him
- not to turn a hair
- not to understand a word of
- not to value a rope's end
- not to value of a rope's end
- not to want to know
- not to wish on a dog
- not to wish something on a dog
- not to worry
- not too
- not too bad
- not too shabby
- not unadjacent to
- not uncommonly
- not unfitly
- not unlikely
- not unpossibly
- not unpretty
- not unprevalent
- not unprobably
- not unpromptly
- not unproud
- not unseldom
- not up to much