pussy

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English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From puss +‎ -y.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

pussy (plural pussies)

  1. (informal) An affectionate term for 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.
  2. (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?
  3. (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?
  4. Anything soft and furry; a bloom form, or catkin, as on the pussy willow. [from 19th c.]
  5. (vulgar, slang, uncountable) Sexual intercourse with a woman. [from 20th c.]
    I’m gonna get me some pussy tonight.
  6. (derogatory, vulgar, slang, chiefly Canada, US) A weak, cowardly, or effeminate man. [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 Oct 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."
  7. (dated) A game of tip-cat.
Synonyms[edit]
Hypernyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From pus +‎ -y.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • enPR: pŭs'i, IPA(key): /ˈpʌsi/
  • Audio (US, Northern California)
    		(file)

Adjective[edit]

pussy (comparative pussier, superlative pussiest)

  1. (medicine) Containing pus.
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

Adjective[edit]

pussy (comparative more pussy, superlative most pussy)

  1. (slang, dated) Alternative form of pursy

Further reading[edit]

  • pussy at OneLook Dictionary Search

References[edit]

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