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noun
1.
a female dog: The bitch won first place in the sporting dogs category.
2.
a female of canines generally.
3.
Slang.
a.
a malicious, unpleasant, selfish person, especially a woman.
b.
a lewd woman.
c.
Disparaging and Offensive. any woman.
4.
Slang. a person who performs demeaning tasks for another; servant: Tom is so her bitch; she just ordered him to go fetch her some pizza—and he went without a word.
5.
EXPANDSlang. a convict who is in a homosexual relationship and/or dominant relationship willingly or unwillingly in the prison setting: The new inmate was immediately forced to be the bitch of the prison's top dog.
6.
COLLAPSESlang.
a.
a complaint: What keeps me sane are my regular bitch sessions with my friends.
b.
anything difficult or unpleasant: That test was a real bitch.
c.
anything memorable, especially something exceptionally good: You threw one bitch of a party last night.
verb (used without object)
7.
Slang. to complain; gripe: They bitched about the service, then about the bill.
verb (used with object)
Idiom8.
Slang. to spoil; bungle (sometimes followed by up): He bitched the job completely. You really bitched up this math problem.
9.
sit
/ride bitch, to sit uncomfortably between two others in the middle of the front or back seat of a car, particularly one with a raised section in the middle resulting in being forced to bring one knees up in an bent position: When I was young, I was the smallest, so I was always stuck sitting bitch. Please don't make me ride bitch again!
/ride bitch, to sit uncomfortably between two others in the middle of the front or back seat of a car, particularly one with a raised section in the middle resulting in being forced to bring one knees up in an bent position: When I was young, I was the smallest, so I was always stuck sitting bitch. Please don't make me ride bitch again! Origin:
before 1000; Middle English bicche, Old English bicce; cognate with Old Norse bikkja
before 1000; Middle English bicche, Old English bicce; cognate with Old Norse bikkja
Related forms
su·per·bitch, noun
Word Story
How shocked and offended will people be if you use this word? Well, that all depends on how you are using it and what you are referring to. Originally, bitch simply meant a female dog, and it still does. But around the year 1400, it gained currency as a disparaging term for a woman, originally specifically “a lewd or sensual woman,” and then more generally “a malicious or unpleasant woman.” The word is first found used this way in the Chester Plays of the 1400's, which has the line “Who callest thou queine, skabde bitch?,” translated by one writer into modern English as “Who are you calling a whore, you miserable bitch?” By the 1800's, bitch was considered “the most offensive appellation that can be given to an English woman,” to the point where people started using euphemisms for the literal sense, such as lady dog and she dog.
But language keeps evolving, and bitch can now also be applied to a man, to a complaint, and to any difficult or unpleasant thing or situation. Used as a verb, we can talk about complaining (“bitching and moaning”), or bungling things (“bitching something up”), or riding in an uncomfortable position in a car (“sitting bitch”). When used in any of these ways, it's more slang than vulgarity, more colorful interjection than cause for offense. Nevertheless, care must be taken—there is a big difference between bitching about somebody and calling them a bitch! (Though it's O.K. to call their female dog that.)
How shocked and offended will people be if you use this word? Well, that all depends on how you are using it and what you are referring to. Originally, bitch simply meant a female dog, and it still does. But around the year 1400, it gained currency as a disparaging term for a woman, originally specifically “a lewd or sensual woman,” and then more generally “a malicious or unpleasant woman.” The word is first found used this way in the Chester Plays of the 1400's, which has the line “Who callest thou queine, skabde bitch?,” translated by one writer into modern English as “Who are you calling a whore, you miserable bitch?” By the 1800's, bitch was considered “the most offensive appellation that can be given to an English woman,” to the point where people started using euphemisms for the literal sense, such as lady dog and she dog.
But language keeps evolving, and bitch can now also be applied to a man, to a complaint, and to any difficult or unpleasant thing or situation. Used as a verb, we can talk about complaining (“bitching and moaning”), or bungling things (“bitching something up”), or riding in an uncomfortable position in a car (“sitting bitch”). When used in any of these ways, it's more slang than vulgarity, more colorful interjection than cause for offense. Nevertheless, care must be taken—there is a big difference between bitching about somebody and calling them a bitch! (Though it's O.K. to call their female dog that.)
Popular References
—The BITCH Manifesto: Classic feminist article (1970) written by Jo Freeman under the pen name Joreen. It reclaimed the word “bitch” as a term of empowerment rather than one of abuse.
—Bitch: A feminist magazine commenting on popular culture and media, founded in 1996.
—Bitch: The stage name of a politically outspoken female rock vocalist/violinist and actress.
—Skinny Bitch: A diet book (2005) written by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.
—No One's the Bitch: A book (2009), Web site, and forum that supports mother and stepmother relationships. Started by Jennifer Newcomb Marine and Carol Marine.
—Stitch 'n Bitch: A network of groups of people who knit and crochet.
—The BITCH Manifesto: Classic feminist article (1970) written by Jo Freeman under the pen name Joreen. It reclaimed the word “bitch” as a term of empowerment rather than one of abuse.
—Bitch: A feminist magazine commenting on popular culture and media, founded in 1996.
—Bitch: The stage name of a politically outspoken female rock vocalist/violinist and actress.
—Skinny Bitch: A diet book (2005) written by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.
—No One's the Bitch: A book (2009), Web site, and forum that supports mother and stepmother relationships. Started by Jennifer Newcomb Marine and Carol Marine.
—Stitch 'n Bitch: A network of groups of people who knit and crochet.
Citations
“The rogues slighted me into the river with as little remorse as they would have drowned a bitch's blind puppies.”
—Falstaff, Merry Wives of Windsor, act III, scene V, William Shakespeare (1602) http://books.google.com/books?id=Znk0AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA138&dq=a+bitch%27s+blind+puppies&hl=en&ei=G0YOTeiSLcOC8ga14qSTCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=a%20bitch%27s%20blind%20puppies&f=false
—Falstaff, Merry Wives of Windsor, act III, scene V, William Shakespeare (1602) http://books.google.com/books?id=Znk0AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA138&dq=a+bitch%27s+blind+puppies&hl=en&ei=G0YOTeiSLcOC8ga14qSTCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=a%20bitch%27s%20blind%20puppies&f=false
“We're all nervous as a wolf bitch in heat.”
—Paul Engle, “The Last Whiskey Cup,” The Great American Parade, ed. H. J. Duteil (1935) http://books.google.com/books?id=S2ku4oO48x8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+great+american+parade&source=bl&ots=HQBLrjM1th&sig=-p5tQz2isii23n0q_bpQFdp_e4c&hl=en&ei=xSAhTbyaMcSAlAfW9fDHBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
—Paul Engle, “The Last Whiskey Cup,” The Great American Parade, ed. H. J. Duteil (1935) http://books.google.com/books?id=S2ku4oO48x8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+great+american+parade&source=bl&ots=HQBLrjM1th&sig=-p5tQz2isii23n0q_bpQFdp_e4c&hl=en&ei=xSAhTbyaMcSAlAfW9fDHBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
“Bitch: … the most offensive appellation that can be given to an English woman, even more provoking than that of whore, as may be gathered from the regular Billinsgate or St. Giles's answers, ‘I may be a whore, but can't be a bitch.’”
—Francis Grose, Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785) http://books.google.com/books?id=RyVKAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA13&dq=%22the+most+offensive+appellation%22&hl=en&ei=1DgOTeLIHsL48AaCx9zNDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22the%20most%20offensive%20appellation%22&f=false
—Francis Grose, Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785) http://books.google.com/books?id=RyVKAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA13&dq=%22the+most+offensive+appellation%22&hl=en&ei=1DgOTeLIHsL48AaCx9zNDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22the%20most%20offensive%20appellation%22&f=false
“The bitch that I mean is not a dog.”
—English proverbial saying, Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British, Thomas Fuller (1732) http://books.google.com/books?id=3y8JAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA189&dq=%22the+bitch+that+I+mean+is+not+a+dog%22&hl=en&ei=oTQOTfmrI4us8AaS9I3sBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CD4Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22the%20bitch%20that%20I%20mean%20is%20not%20a%20dog%22&f=false
—English proverbial saying, Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British, Thomas Fuller (1732) http://books.google.com/books?id=3y8JAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA189&dq=%22the+bitch+that+I+mean+is+not+a+dog%22&hl=en&ei=oTQOTfmrI4us8AaS9I3sBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CD4Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22the%20bitch%20that%20I%20mean%20is%20not%20a%20dog%22&f=false
“Kind of a Bitch: Why I Like Hillary Clinton”
—Camille Paglia, Vamps & Tramps: New Essays (1995) http://www.amazon.com/Vamps-Tramps-Essays-Camille-Paglia/dp/0679751203
—Camille Paglia, Vamps & Tramps: New Essays (1995) http://www.amazon.com/Vamps-Tramps-Essays-Camille-Paglia/dp/0679751203
“He's my bitch, and when he says my name, we just sell that many more records.”
—David Lee Roth, talking about Sammy Hagar, Everybody Wants Some: The Van Halen Saga, Ian Christe (2007) http://books.google.com/books?id=RUsfiiCWvLkC&pg=PT116&dq=%22he%27s+my+bitch%22&hl=en#v=onepage&q=%22he%27s%20my%20bitch%22&f=false
—David Lee Roth, talking about Sammy Hagar, Everybody Wants Some: The Van Halen Saga, Ian Christe (2007) http://books.google.com/books?id=RUsfiiCWvLkC&pg=PT116&dq=%22he%27s+my+bitch%22&hl=en#v=onepage&q=%22he%27s%20my%20bitch%22&f=false
“I liked the idea of having me a kept senator. You might say he's my bitch.”
—Stanford Diehl, Angel in the Front Room, Devil Out Back (2001) http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Front-Room-Devil-Back/dp/1563526433
—Stanford Diehl, Angel in the Front Room, Devil Out Back (2001) http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Front-Room-Devil-Back/dp/1563526433
“What a bitch of a thing prose is! It is never finished, there is always something to be done over.”
—Gustave Flaubert, in a letter to Louise Colet, The Selected Letters of Gustave Flaubert, ed. and transl. Francis Steegmuller (1953) http://www.amazon.com/Selected-Letters-Gustave-Flaubert-Steegmuller/dp/B000L7GLT6
—Gustave Flaubert, in a letter to Louise Colet, The Selected Letters of Gustave Flaubert, ed. and transl. Francis Steegmuller (1953) http://www.amazon.com/Selected-Letters-Gustave-Flaubert-Steegmuller/dp/B000L7GLT6
“Sometimes you just have to stop and bitch about the roses.”
—Man to woman, in a cartoon by Christopher Weyant, The New Yorker (December 20, 2004)
—Man to woman, in a cartoon by Christopher Weyant, The New Yorker (December 20, 2004)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To bitch
Collins
World English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
bitch
O.E. bicce, probably from O.N. bikkjuna "female of the dog" (also fox, wolf, and occasionally other beasts), of unknown origin. Grimm derives the O.N. word from Lapp pittja, but OED notes that "the converse is equally possible." As a term of contempt applied to women, it dates from c.1400; of a man,
EXPAND c.1500, playfully, in the sense of "dog." In modern (1990s, originally black English) slang, its use with reference to a man is sexually contemptuous, from the "woman" insult.
"BITCH. A she dog, or doggess; the most offensive appellation that can be given to an English woman, even more provoking than that of whore." ["Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1811]Used among male homosexuals from 1930s. Insult son of a bitch is O.N. bikkju-sonr. Bitch goddess coined 1906 by William James; the original one was success.
bitch
"to complain," attested at least from 1930, perhaps from the sense in bitchy, perhaps influenced by the verb meaning "to bungle, spoil," which is recorded from 1823. But bitched in this sense seems to echo M.E. bicched "cursed, bad," a general term of opprobrium (e.g. Chaucer's
bicched bones "unlucky dice"), which despite the hesitation of OED, seems to be a derivative of bitch (n.). And cf. the mid-19th century U.S. blackface minstrel song verse about women's rights movement:
When woman's rights is stirred a bit
De first reform she bitches on
Is how she can wid least delay
Just draw a pair ob britches on.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
bitch definition
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Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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