pursiness

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English

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Etymology

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From pursy +‎ -ness.

Noun

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pursiness (uncountable)

  1. The state of being pursy.
    1. Shortness of breath, especially due to fatness.
      • 1649, Charles Hoole, An Easie Entrance to the Latine Tongue[1], London: Joshuah Kirton, II. A Vocabulary of the most common words English and Latine, 21. Of Diseases, page 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,[2]
        [] 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 []
    2. 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,[3]
        You pray me to aduise, and tell you what
        Will take away your pursiness and fat,
      • 1872, C. H. Cleaveland, Pronouncing Medical Lexicon[4], 14th edition, Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, page 202:
        PURSINESS, [] obesity.
      • 1906, Florence Parsons (as “Mrs. Clement Parsons”), Garrick and His Circle, London: Methuen, p. 131,[5]
        Hogarth’s fine portrait of him, [] recently acquired by the National Gallery, suggests the double chin and general pursiness of the bon vivant.
    3. The state of being puckered.
      • 1969, Susan Morrow, chapter 13, in A Season of Evil[6], Garden City, NY: Doubleday, page 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, chapter 4, in Starlight[7], New York: Sonnet Books, page 57:
        [] as his lips pressed down upon hers, coaxing them to abandon their pursiness and relax, she gave a little moan of surprise.

References

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