DictionaryAI

piss

PIS/pɪs/

Verbpisses, pissing, pissed

Noun pluralpisses (some meanings)

8 meanings of piss

Practice

  1. 1
    verbmildly vulgarintransitive
    To urinate, or to pass something out of the body in or as urine.

    He pulled onto the shoulder of the highway because he badly needed to piss.

    The puppy pissed on the new rug the moment we brought him home.

    UsageWhat gets wet usually follows on or against. In polite or medical talk, people say pee or urinate.

    Similarpee, wee

    Note

    Older English used the verb plainly: the Holy Bible of 1611 threatens to cut off “him that pisseth against the wall.”

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The cited Bible translation was first published in 1611. en.wikisource.org
    • The King James Bible contains the quoted wording in a threat to cut off people, in 1 Kings 14:10. en.wikisource.org
  2. 2
    urinenounmildly vulgaruncountable
    Urine, the liquid waste passed out of the body.

    The bus station restroom reeked of piss.

    The rest stop bathroom reeked of stale piss, so we decided to wait until the next town.

    Similarpee, urine

  3. 3
    act of peeingnounmildly vulgarcountable
    An act of urinating.

    After three beers, he excused himself to take a quick piss.

    The hikers stopped behind a boulder for a piss before the steep climb.

    UsageUsually have or take a piss. Do not confuse take a piss with take the piss, which means to mock someone.

    Similarpee, leak, wee

  4. 4
    verynounmildly vulgarcountable or uncountablebefore a noun
    Used before an adjective to make it stronger.

    Their customer service was piss-poor, so we took our business elsewhere.

    Once you've done it a few times, changing a tire is piss-easy.

    UsageOften joined with a hyphen, as in piss-poor, piss-easy and piss-ugly.

    Note

    It works like very with a sneer or a laugh in it. Most of its partners are insults, yet it can praise too: Rae Earl calls Ben Elton “piss funny” in her teenage diary, first published in 2007.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Rae Earl describes Ben Elton as “piss funny” in her diary. en.wiktionary.org
    • The book contains Earl’s real teenage diary. evewhite.co.uk
    • The diary was originally published in 2007 as My Fat, Mad Teenage Diary; 2016 is the American edition’s year. en.wikipedia.org
  5. 5
    rain hardverbmildly vulgartransitive or intransitive
    To rain heavily.

    It pissed down for the whole festival, and the fields turned to mud.

    The forecast says it'll piss rain until Tuesday.

    UsageUsually with it and down or rain: it's pissing down, it's pissing rain.

    Similarpour, bucket, teem

    Note

    Will Self's Feeding Frenzy (2001) manages with the bare verb, “when it's pissing outside,” where the setting does the explaining.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Will Self wrote Feeding Frenzy, first published in 2001. en.wikipedia.org
    • Feeding Frenzy contains the exact words “when it's pissing outside,” using the bare verb for rain. en.wiktionary.org
  6. 6
    cheap alcoholnounmildly vulgarcountable or uncountable
    Alcoholic drink, especially of poor quality.

    Don't waste your money on that supermarket piss; the brewery down the road is better.

    She's been off the piss since New Year's and says she sleeps better.

    UsageOn the piss means out drinking heavily, the opposite of off the piss.

    Similarbooze

    Note

    It does two different jobs. As scorn it runs down a bad drink, as when a character in Donald Newlove's The Drunks (1974) refuses to “drink this piss.” In the phrase off the piss, quality drops out of it: the word stands for alcohol itself, and someone off the piss is not drinking at all.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Donald Newlove wrote The Drunks, first published in 1974. toughpoets.com
    • A character in The Drunks rejects a drink using the exact words “drink this piss.” en.wiktionary.org

Less common meanings

  1. 7
    annoyanceinterjectionmildly vulgar
    Used to express anger, disappointment, or dissatisfaction.

    Oh, piss! I missed the last bus, so I'll have to walk home.

    Piss! Who moved my glasses this time?

    UsageUsually on its own or after oh or well: Oh, piss!

    Similardamn, dammit, crap

    Note

    It usually greets small, everyday setbacks, though it can meet worse news too; in a Sandra Brown novel a woman finds her sundae melted and mutters “Oh, piss.”

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • A female character in Sandra Brown’s fiction mutters “Oh, piss” because her sundae has melted. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 8
    win easilyverbmildly vulgarCommonwealthIrelandUKtransitive
    To achieve something with ease.

    With the champion out injured, he reckoned he would piss the final.

    Our lot pissed the qualifier and barely broke a sweat.

    Note

    Here the word turns into a boast: you piss a race or a test you expect to win easily. It belongs to British, Irish and Commonwealth speech and is only mildly rude there, but listeners elsewhere may hear only the lavatory meaning.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of piss apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Middle English had the verb pissen, taken from Old French pissier, and the noun pisse, formed from the verb. That may go back to Vulgar Latin *pīssiāre, and the word is probably imitative in origin. It pushed out Old English micge. Compare Old Norse pissa ("to urinate, piss").

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 7 facts