arse

See also: ARSE

English

Alternative forms

• ass (US)

Etymology

From Middle English ars, ers, from Old English ærs, ears, from Proto-Germanic *arsaz (compare Dutch aars and German Arsch), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃érsos (“backside, buttocks”) (according to Julius Pokorny and Carl Darling Buck).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General New Zealand, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɑːs/
• (Ireland, US) IPA^(key): /ɑɹs/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)s

• Audio (UK)

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• Audio (CA)

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Noun

arse (plural arses)

1. (dated in New England, current in Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, now slang) The buttocks or more specifically, the anus.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter iij, in Le Morte Darthur, book XII:

     & thenne he rode after the bore / & thenne syre laūcelot was ware where the bore set his ars to a tree by an hermytage / Thenne sir launcelot ranne atte bore with his spere / & ther with the bore torned hym nemly

   • 2011, James Smart, The Guardian, 12 March:

     As the novel progresses, he is shot in the hand with his own gun, shot in the arse with someone else's and lacerated by a prosthetic weed trimmer.

2. (chiefly Britain, pejorative slang) A stupid, mean or despicable person.
   • 2007, Martin Harrison, The Judgement of Paris, p.282:

     “You're an arse,” Ellen said. ¶ “Please? You must like something about me …?” ¶ “I do. You're an arse. I just told you that. I feel comfy with you, because you're such an arse.”

   • 2007, L. A. Wilson, The Silurian: Book One: The Fox and the Bear, p.103:

     He looked at me, was just about to call me an arse, when I told him, “You throw it too hard. Try and think of the javelin hitting the target before you throw it. Let it all go through your mind first, see it, feel it, then throw it.” ¶ “Good advice, you arse,” he said and tried again.

   • 2011, Joe Abercrombie, The Heroes, unnumbered page:

     Felnigg. What a suppurating arse. Look at him. Arse.

Quotations

• For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:arse.

Derived terms

Terms derived from arse (noun)

• know one's arse from one's elbow
• arse bandit
• arseface
• arse is gone right out of 'er
• arsehat
• arsehole

• arseman
• arsey/arsy
• arsing
• duck's arse
• duck-arsed
• hang an arse (obsolete)

• kick arse
• kiss my arse
• smart arse
• tight-arse

Translations

arse — see ass

Verb

arse (third-person singular simple present arses, present participle arsing, simple past and past participle arsed)

1. (slang, intransitive) To be silly, act stupid or mess around.

   Stop arsing around!

   • 1985, Sam McAughtry, McAughtry's War, page 10,

     He was university material, just arsing about as a rigger, arsing about, killing time with bohunks like me […] .

   • 2005, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, page 291,

     Pi, upset, roars, "Quit arsing around there and get cracking," and a dozen heads turn their way.

   • 2011, Jaine Fenn, Bringer of Light, unnumbered page,

     He was half-expecting a call from the lingua, telling him to stop arsing around, but his com stayed silent, so it looked like a certain amount of arsing around was allowed.

Derived terms

• arse about verb
• arse around verb
• half-arsed adj

Anagrams

• AREs, Ares, EARs, ERAs, Ersa, SERA, ares, ears, eras, rase, reas, sare, sear, sera

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Italian

Adjective

arse f pl

1. feminine plural of arso

Verb

arse

1. third-person singular indicative past historic of ardere

Participle

arse

1. feminine plural of the past participle of ardere

Anagrams

• ersa, rase, resa, sera

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Latin

Participle

ārse

1. vocative masculine singular of ārsus

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Portuguese

Alternative forms

• ársis

Noun

arse f (plural arses)

1. (poetry, music) arsis (the stronger part of a measure or foot)