6 results for: pugnacious
pug·na·cious
Audio Help [puhg-ney-shuh
s] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [puhg-ney-shuh
s] Pronunciation Key –adjective
| inclined to quarrel or fight readily; quarrelsome; belligerent; combative. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
pugnacious
To learn more about pugnacious visit Britannica.com
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| pug·na·cious
Audio Help (pŭg-nā'shəs) Pronunciation Key
adj. Combative in nature; belligerent. See Synonyms at belligerent. [From Latin pugnāx, pugnāc-, from pugnāre, to fight, from pugnus, fist; see peuk- in Indo-European roots.] pug·na'cious·ly adv., pug·na'cious·ness, pug·nac'i·ty (-nās'ĭ-tē) n. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
pugnacious
1642, from L. pugnacis, gen. of pugnax "combative," from pugnare "to fight," from pugnus "fist," from PIE base *peug- "to stick, stab" (cf. Gk. pyx "with clenched fist," pygme "fist, boxing," pyktes "boxer;" L. pungere "to pierce, prick").
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| pugnacious | |
adjective | |
| 1. | tough and callous by virtue of experience [syn: hard-bitten] |
| 2. | ready and able to resort to force or violence; "pugnacious spirits...lamented that there was so little prospect of an exhilarating disturbance"- Herman Melville; "they were rough and determined fighting men" |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
Pugnacious
Fist\, n. [OE. fist, fust, AS. f?st; akin to D. vuist, OHG. f?st, G. faust, and prob. to L. pugnus, Gr. ? fist, ? with the fist. Cf. Pugnacious, Pigmy.]1. The hand with the fingers doubled into the palm; the closed hand, especially as clinched tightly for the purpose of striking a blow. Who grasp the earth and heaven with my fist. --Herbert. 2. The talons of a bird of prey. [Obs.] More light than culver in the falcon's fist. --Spenser. 3. (print.) the index mark [[hand]], used to direct special attention to the passage which follows. Hand over fist (Naut.), rapidly; hand over hand.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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