# puss

Pronunciation: say "PUUS" /pʊs/

## Noun

1. A cat, often as a name used when speaking to one. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A cat, especially when you call it or talk to it.
   - _Grandma bent down and cooed, "Who's a good puss, then?" as the cat rubbed against her ankles._
   - _A fat orange puss sat in the bakery window, watching people go by._
2. Misspelling of pus, the thick yellowish fluid that forms in infected tissue. *(nonstandard)* — Alternative spelling of pus.
   - Simple: A common misspelling of pus, the yellow liquid that comes out of an infected cut.
   - _The blister had filled with puss by the next morning._
   - _Thick yellow puss leaked from the wound until the doctor drained it._
3. A person's face or mouth. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A slang word for someone's face or mouth.
   - _The catcher took a foul ball right in the puss and stayed in the game._
   - _One look at his gloomy puss told me the meeting had gone badly._
4. The vulva; the external female genitals. *(slang)*
   - Simple: The outer sex organs of a woman's body.
5. A cowardly or weak person who is unable to stand up for themselves. *(slang, Canada, US)*
   - Simple: A person who is easily scared and cannot stand up for themselves.
   - _Quit being a puss and tell your boss you want the raise._
   - _He knew he was being a puss, but he still couldn't bring himself to ask his roommate for the rent money._
6. Sex with a woman. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Having sex with a woman.

## Noun

7. An affectionate name for a girl or young woman, or for any child. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A loving name for a girl, a young woman, or any child.
   - _"Don't cry, puss," her grandfather said, wiping her tears away with his handkerchief._
   - _The nanny adored all the children, especially the little puss who followed her everywhere._
8. A hare, especially as hunters speak of one. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A hare, the animal like a big rabbit, in the talk of hunters.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 4–8** — The likely source is Dutch poes ("puss, cat," and in slang also "vulva") or Middle Low German pūse, pūskatte. These go back to a common Germanic word for cat, which may imitate a sound people make to get a cat's attention. Relatives include West Frisian poes, Low German Puus, and Danish and Norwegian pus. Similar words turn up in other languages across Europe, North Africa and Asia, for example Romanian pisică and Tagalog pusa.
**Meaning 3** — Irish pus ("mouth, lip"), which goes back to Middle Irish bus, is either the source of this Celtic word or a relative of it.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/puss (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).