pish

English

Etymology

Expressive; perhaps partly from Scots pish (“piss”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɪʃ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪʃ

Interjection

pish

1. Expressing disdain.

Synonyms

• pht, feh, meh, pooh, pshaw, bah, poh; see also Thesaurus:bah

Derived terms

• pish posh
• pish tosh

Noun

pish (plural pishes)

1. A sibilant noise (e.g. "psshh") made by birders and ornithologists to attract small birds.
2. Synonym of pish posh (“nonsense, poppycock”).

Verb

pish (third-person singular simple present pishes, present participle pishing, simple past and past participle pished)

1. To try to attract birds by making a sibilant noise (e.g. "psshh").
2. To express contempt.
   • 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 73, column 1:

     Piſh for thee, Iſland dogge: thou prickeard cur of Iſland.

Usage notes

• Most commonly found in the gerund or present participle pishing.

Adjective

pish (comparative more pish, superlative most pish)

1. (vulgar, colloquial, chiefly Scotland) Of poor quality; very bad.
   • 2017 October 17, @_megcorrigan, Twitter‎^[1], archived from the original on 2 August 2025:

     Bein a lesbo is pish. A tell a girl shes bangin nd ye get "comin from u👸🏼" lit nah am no sayin tht tae be yer pal am sayin it tae shag ye x

References

• “pish”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• Dunne, Peter (2006). The Art of Pishing: How to Attract Birds by Mimicking Their Calls. →ISBN.
• Langham, G. M.; Contreras, T. A. & Sieving, K. E. (2006). Why pishing works: Titmouse (Paridae) scolds elicit a generalized response in bird communities. Ecoscience 13 (4): 485–496. doi:10.2980/1195-6860(2006)13[485:WPWTPS]2.0.CO;2

See also

• pish pash (etymlogically unrelated)

Anagrams

• -ship, HIPs, hiPS, hips, phis, ship

Chinese

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism; deliberate misspelling of push, from English push.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʰiʃ⁵⁵/

Verb

pish

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, Internet slang, leetspeak) to bump a thread in support

Synonyms

• 推 (teoi¹), push

Antonyms

• pull, 拉

See also

• English: age

Chinook Jargon

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English fish, or possibly French pêche.

Noun

pish

1. fish

Etymology 2

From Chinook opitshka.

Noun

pish

1. fire

Synonyms

• piah

Mohegan-Pequot

Alternative forms

• beesh (obsolete orthography)

Etymology

From English peas.

Noun

pish

1. peas

References

• A Vocabulary of Mohegan-Pequot (John D. Prince, Frank G. Speck)

Scots

Etymology

From late Middle English pyshe, variant of pisse.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɪʃ/
• Rhymes: -ɪʃ

Noun

pish (uncountable)

1. (vulgar) Urine, piss.
2. (vulgar) Crust on a scabbing wound.

Verb

pish (third-person singular simple present pishes, present participle pishin, simple past and past participle pished)

1. To urinate, to piss.

Derived terms

• reekin o pish

Adjective

pish (comparative mair pish, superlative maist pish)

1. (vulgar) Not very good, in fact quite bad.
   • 2017 October 17, @_megcorrigan, Twitter‎^[2], archived from the original on 2 August 2025:

     Bein a lesbo is pish. A tell a girl shes bangin nd ye get "comin from u👸🏼" lit nah am no sayin tht tae be yer pal am sayin it tae shag ye x

     Being a lesbian sucks. I tell a girl she's banging and you get "coming from you👸🏼" like nah I'm not saying that to be your pal I'm saying it to shag you x

Interjection

pish

1. An expression of disdain.

References

• “pish”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.

Western Apache

Etymology

From English fish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pʰɪ̀ʃ]

Noun

pish

1. fish