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Definition of puss - 7 dictionary results

puss

1  [poos]
Use puss in a Sentence
–noun
1. a cat.
2. Informal. a girl or woman: often used as a form of affectionate address.
3. British. a hare.
Origin:
1520–30; akin to D poes, LG puus-katte, dial. Sw kattepus, Norw puse(kat)

Related forms:
pusslike, adjective

puss

2  [poos]
–noun Slang.
1. face: She smacked him in the puss.
2. mouth: Shut your puss before I shut it for you.
Origin:
1880–85; < Ir pus lip, mouth
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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puss 1   (pŏŏs)   
n.  
  1. A cat.
  2. A girl or young woman.

[Probably of Germanic origin.]
puss 2   (pŏŏs)   
n.   Slang
  1. The mouth.
  2. The human face.

[Irish Gaelic pus, mouth, from Middle Irish bus, lip.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Puss

Puss\ (p[.u]s), n. [Cf. D. poes, Ir. & Gael. pus.]

1. A cat; -- a fondling appellation.

2. A hare; -- so called by sportsmen.

Puss in the corner, a game in which all the players but one occupy corners of a room, or certain goals in the open air, and exchange places, the one without a corner endeavoring to get a corner while it is vacant, leaving some other without one.

Puss moth (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of stout bombycid moths belonging to Cerura, Harpyia, and allied genera, esp. Harpyia vinuli, of Europe. The larv[ae] are humpbacked, and have two caudal appendages.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : puss
Spanish: minino,
German: die Mietze,
Japanese: 猫
More Translations »

puss  (1)
"cat," 1530, but probably much older than the record, perhaps imitative of the hissing sound commonly used to get a cat's attention. A conventional name for a cat in Gmc. languages and as far off as Afghanistan; it is the root of the principal word for "cat" in Romanian (pisica) and secondary words in Lith. (puz), Low Ger. (puus), Swed. dial. katte-pus, etc.

puss  (2)
"the face," 1890, slang, from Ir. pus "lip, mouth."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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