bitch

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Contents

English

Etymology

From Middle English biche, bicche, from Old English biċċe (“female dog, bitch”), from Proto-Germanic *bikjōn (“female dog”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots biche, bik (“bitch, female dog”), Old Icelandic bikkja, bikkjuna (“bitch, female dog”), Old Danish bikke, Norwegian bikkja (“dog”). Compare also Old Norse bikkja (“to plunge into water”), Dutch bikken (“to chip, chip off”). More at bicker.

Pronunciation

Noun

bitch (plural bitches)

  1. A female dog or other canine. In particular one who has recently had puppies.
    My bitch just had puppies: they're so cute!
  2. (vulgar, derogatory) Term of contempt applied to a woman, conveying a judgement that she or her behavior are despicable, disagreeable, etc. [from the 15th c]
    Ann gossiped about me and mocked my work; sometimes she can be a real bitch!
    • 1959, William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, page 70
      HASSAN: "You cheap Factualist bitch! Go and never darken my rumpus room again!"
    • 1913, D. H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, I. iv. 60:
      'Look at the children, you nasty little bitch!' he sneered.
  3. (vulgar, derogatory) Term of contempt by extension applied to a man, conveying a judgement that he or his behavior are despicable, disagreeable, etc. [from the 16th c]
  4. (humorous, colloquial, used with a possessive pronoun, usually between women, between gay men and between women and gay men) Friend.
    What’s up, my bitch?
    How my bitches been doin'?
  5. A person who is made to adopt a submissive role in a relationship. Often preceded by the
    Do you have to ask your girl before you do everything? You must be the bitch in the relationship.
    • 1999 September 23, Chris Sheridan, “This House Is Freakin’ Sweet”, “Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater”, Family Guy, season 2, episode 1, Fox Broadcasting Company
      Now that you're stinking rich, we'd gladly be your bitch.
  6. (colloquial) A complaint.
  7. (colloquial, usually only used in the singular) A difficult or confounding problem.
    Question 5 was a real bitch, don’t you think?
    That's a bitch of a question. (Or, a bitch of a problem, etc.)
  8. (colloquial) A queen (playing card), particularly the queen of spades in the card game of hearts.

Usage notes

  • The derogatory tone of the noun bitch is sometimes diffused by intentional colloquial overuse or misuse. In print, the noun referring to a person is demeaning and sometimes implies that the person being insulted is subservient.
  • In professional circles, the noun bitch is sometimes used to refer to intelligent and ambitious women with a high level of sex-appeal who use those qualities to achieve their goals.
  • In the sense of an aggressive woman, this term is generally derogatory when used by men (and often when used by women), but, it is also used by some women to refer to themselves positively in a form of reclamation. It is important to note that many people do not believe that "bitch" is able to be reclaimed, because of its continued pejorative usage. Thus, the term is both potentially liberatory while also being controversial.

Synonyms

  • (female dog, etc): female (when the species is specified or implied)
  • (malicious, etc, woman): cow, harpy
  • (malicious, etc, man): bastard
  • (jocular slang, one's friend):
  • (person in an unfavorable, undesirable position):
  • (person in a relationship who is made to adopt a submissive role): doormat
  • (a complaint): gripe, grumble, kvetch, moan, whinge
  • (difficult or confounding problem): toughie, stinker, pain in the ass
  • (to talk about):

Hyponyms

female canine

Derived terms

Alternative forms

Translations

female canine
spiteful woman
spiteful man, especially a gay man
jocular slang: one's friend
person in an unfavorable, undesirable position
person in relationship who is made to adopt a submissive role
a complaint
difficult or confounding problem

References

Verb

bitch (third-person singular simple present bitches, present participle bitching, simple past and past participle bitched)

  1. (transitive, with “about”) To make derogatory comments (about a person).
    Look, I saw you bitching about me yesterday, I know how you feel: why can't you say it to my face?
  2. (transitive, with “about”) To criticize (something) spitefully, often for the sake of complaining rather than in order to have the problem corrected.
    All you ever do is bitch about the food I cook for you!

Synonyms

Translations

make derogatory comments (about someone)
complain (about something) spitefully
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