Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
Definition of purse - 8 dictionary results
purse
[purs] 
noun, verb, pursed, purs⋅ing.–noun
| 1. | a woman's handbag or pocketbook. |
| 2. | a small bag, pouch, or case for carrying money. |
| 3. | anything resembling a purse in appearance, use, etc. |
| 4. | a sum of money offered as a prize or reward. |
| 5. | a sum of money collected as a present or the like. |
| 6. | money, resources, or wealth. |
–verb (used with object)
| 7. | to contract into folds or wrinkles; pucker: to purse one's lips. |
| 8. | to put into a purse. |
Origin:
bef. 1100; (n.) ME, OE purs, b. pusa bag (c. ON posi) and ML bursa bag (≪ Gk býrsa hide, leather); (v.) ME pursen to put in a purse, deriv. of the n.
bef. 1100; (n.) ME, OE purs, b. pusa bag (c. ON posi) and ML bursa bag (≪ Gk býrsa hide, leather); (v.) ME pursen to put in a purse, deriv. of the n.
Related forms:
purseless, adjective
purselike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To purse
| purse (pûrs) n.
To gather or contract (the lips or brow) into wrinkles or folds; pucker. [Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin bursa; see bursa.] purse'like' adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Purse
Purse\, n. [OE. purs, pors, OF. burse, borse, bourse, F. bourse, LL. bursa, fr. Gr. ? hide, skin, leather. Cf. Bourse, Bursch, Bursar, Buskin.]1. A small bag or pouch, the opening of which is made to draw together closely, used to carry money in; by extension, any receptacle for money carried on the person; a wallet; a pocketbook; a portemonnaie. --Chaucer. Who steals my purse steals trash. --Shak. 2. Hence, a treasury; finances; as, the public purse. 3. A sum of money offered as a prize, or collected as a present; as, to win the purse; to make up a purse. 4. A specific sum of money; as: (a) In Turkey, the sum of 500 piasters. (b) In Persia, the sum of 50 tomans. Light purse, or Empty purse, poverty or want of resources. Long purse, or Heavy purse, wealth; riches. Purse crab (Zo["o]l.), any land crab of the genus Birgus, allied to the hermit crabs. They sometimes weigh twenty pounds or more, and are very strong, being able to crack cocoanuts with the large claw. They chiefly inhabit the tropical islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, living in holes and feeding upon fruit. Called also palm crab. Purse net, a fishing net, the mouth of which may be closed or drawn together like a purse. --Mortimer. Purse pride, pride of money; insolence proceeding from the possession of wealth. --Bp. Hall. Purse rat. (Zo["o]l.) See Pocket gopher, under Pocket. Sword and purse, the military power and financial resources of a nation.Purse
Purse\, v. i. To steal purses; to rob. [Obs. & R.] I'll purse: . . . I'll bet at bowling alleys. --Beau. & Fl.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : purse
Spanish:
monedero,
German:
die Geldbörse,
Japanese:
財布
purse (n.)
O.E. pursa "little bag made of leather," from M.L. bursa "purse" (cf. O.Fr. borse, 12c., Fr. bourse), from L.L., variant of byrsa "hide," from Gk. byrsa "hide, leather." Change of b- to p- perhaps by infl. of O.E. pusa, O.N. posi "bag." Meaning "woman's handbag" is attested from 1955. Meaning "sum of money collected as a prize in a race, etc.," is frim 1650. The verb, "draw together and wrinkle" (as the strings of a money bag) is first recorded 1604. Purse-strings, fig. for "control of money" is from c.1412. Purse-snatcher first attested 1902 (earlier purse-picker, 1549). The notion of "drawn together by a thong" is also behind purse-net (c.1400).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Purse
(1.) Gr. balantion, a bag (Luke 10:4; 22:35, 36). (2.) Gr. zone, properly a girdle (Matt. 10:9; Mark 6:8), a money-belt. As to our Lord's sending forth his disciples without money in their purses, the remark has been made that in this "there was no departure from the simple manners of the country. At this day the farmer sets out on excursions quite as extensive without a para in his purse; and a modern Moslem prophet of Tarshisha thus sends forth his apostles over this identical region. No traveller in the East would hestitate to throw himself on the hospitality of any village." Thomson's Land and the Book. (See SCRIP.)
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
purse
In addition to the idiom beginning with purse, also see can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
