purse
Plural: purses
Noun
- a container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women)
- a sum of money spoken of as the contents of a money purse
- "he made the contribution out of his own purse"
- "he and his wife shared a common purse"
- a small bag for carrying money
- a sum of money offered as a prize
- "the purse barely covered the winner's expenses"
- A small bag for carrying money.
- A handbag (small bag usually used by women for carrying various small personal items)
- A quantity of money given for a particular purpose.
- A specific sum of money in certain countries: formerly 500 piastres in Turkey or 50 tomans in Persia.
Verb
Verb Forms: pursed, pursing, purses
- To pucker or contract, especially the lips.
- contract one's lips into a rounded shape
- gather or contract into wrinkles or folds; pucker
- "purse ones's lips"
- To press (one's lips) in and together so that they protrude.
- To draw up or contract into folds or wrinkles; to pucker; to knit.
- To put into a purse.
- To steal purses; to rob.
Examples
- He had to PURSE his lips to avoid shouting in frustration at his bad tiles.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English purse, from Old English purs (“purse”), partly from pusa (“wallet, bag, scrip”) and partly from burse (“pouch, bag”).
Old English pusa comes from Proto-West Germanic *pusō, from Proto-Germanic *pusô (“bag, sack, scrip”), and is cognate with Old High German pfoso (“pouch, purse”), Low German pūse (“purse, bag”), Old Norse posi (“purse, bag”), Danish pose (“purse, bag”), Dutch beurs (“purse, bag”). Old English burse comes from Medieval Latin bursa (“leather bag”) (compare English bursar), from Ancient Greek βύρσα (búrsa, “hide, wine-skin”).
Compare also Old French borse (French bourse), Old Saxon bursa (“bag”), Old High German burissa (“wallet”).
Scrabble Score: 7
purse: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordpurse: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
purse: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary