pussy
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English[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From puss + -y (diminutive suffix).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpʊsɪ/
- (General American) enPR: po͝osʹi, IPA(key): /ˈpʊsi/
Audio (US, Northern California) (file) - Rhymes: -ʊsi
- Hyphenation: pus‧sy
Noun[edit]
pussy (plural pussies)
- (informal, endearing) A cat. [from 17th c.]
- 2007, Liz Jones, "Are cats the new dogs?", The Independent, 17 Nov 07:
- And although, as someone recently said to me, they are not "designer" (she had expected my pussies to be expensive, with a pedigree), to me my cats are the most beautiful in the world.
- 2007, Liz Jones, "Are cats the new dogs?", The Independent, 17 Nov 07:
- (colloquial, now rare) An affectionate term for a woman or girl, seen as having characteristics associated with cats such as sweetness. [from 16th c.]
- 2010, Jojo Moyes, "Why love letters are better left unread", The Telegraph, 3 Jun 2010:
- If Lloyd George’s endearments to mistress Frances Stevenson – “My darling Pussy. You might phone… on Friday if you can come. Don’t let Hankey see you” – had been made similarly public, would he have maintained his own reputation as a towering statesman?
- 2010, Jojo Moyes, "Why love letters are better left unread", The Telegraph, 3 Jun 2010:
- (vulgar, slang) The female genitalia; the vulva and/or vagina. [from 17th c.]
- You have a lovely pussy!
- 2016, Alexandra Sirowy, The Telling (young adult fiction), Simon & Schuster, page 6:
- There's a lot of disagreement about where that word came from. Pussy is actually a diminutive of pusillanimous, meaning cowardly. Although maybe the origin doesn't matter, since everyone equates it with the female anatomy anyway?
- Anything soft and furry; a bloom form, or catkin, as on the pussy willow. [from 19th c.]
- (vulgar, slang, uncountable, normally in the phrase "to get some pussy") Sexual intercourse with a woman. [from 20th c.]
- I’m gonna get me some pussy tonight.
- 1991, Daniel Clowes, Art School Confidential:
- The teachers are not there to help you. Most oft them are still freelancers and the last thing they want is more competition. They are there because they need a steady paycheck and they hope to score some pussy!
- (derogatory, vulgar, slang, chiefly Canada, US) A coward; a weakling; an ineffectual, timid, or pathetic person. [from 20th c.]
- You're such a pussy!
- 1925, Sinclair Lewis, Martin Arrowsmith (fiction), Harcourt Brace & Company:
- You ought to hear some of the docs that are the sweetest old pussies with their patients—the way they bawl out the nurses. But labs—they seem sort of real. I don't suppose you can bluff a bacteria—what is it?—bacterium?
- 2007 November 26, Matt Keating, “Do everyone a favour and don't bring your cold to work”, in The Guardian[1], archived from the original on 6 October 2014:
- I couldn't carry the burden of shame engendered by the bully-boy advertising of "max-strength" cold and flu remedies, the obvious subtext of which is "Get to work, you pussy."
- (vulgar, gay slang) the anus of a man, usually the passive participant in gay sex.
- (dated) A game of tip-cat.
Synonyms[edit]
- (cat): kitty, kitty-cat, puss, pussy-cat; see also Thesaurus:cat
- (affectionate term): darling, honey, pussums; see also Thesaurus:sweetheart
- (female genitalia): poontang, coochie, punani, quim; see Thesaurus:vulva or Thesaurus:vagina
- (uncountable: intercourse with woman): poontang, poon, tang, punani; see also Thesaurus:copulation
- (cowardly man): scaredy-cat, wimp, wuss; see also Thesaurus:coward
- (ineffectual, timid, or pathetic person): pansy, sissy, weenie, weakling; see also Thesaurus:milksop
- (tip-cat): cat, cat and dog, one-a-cat, piggy
Hypernyms[edit]
- (female genitalia): genitals
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
affectionate term for a girl or woman
informal: affectionate term for a cat
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slang: female genitalia
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vulgar: sexual intercourse with a woman
informal: coward
Etymology 2[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
pussy (comparative pussier, superlative pussiest)
Alternative forms[edit]
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]
containing pus
Etymology 3[edit]
Adjective[edit]
pussy (comparative more pussy, superlative most pussy)
Further reading[edit]
- pussy at OneLook Dictionary Search
References[edit]
- pussy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
Categories:
- English words suffixed with -y
- English 2-syllable words
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- en:Medicine
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- en:Cats
- en:People