Adjacent Words

Purse definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PURSE, n. purs. [L. byrsa, an ox hide; Gr. id.]
1. A small bag in which money is contained or carried in the pocket. It was formerly made of leather, and is still made of this material by common people. It is usually of silk net-work.
2. A sum of money offered as the prize of winning in a horse race.
3. In turkey, a sum of money, about f50 sterling, or $222.
4. The public coffers; the treasury; as, to exhaust a nation's purse, or the public purse.
Long purse, or heavy purse, wealth; riches.
Light purse, or empty purse, poverty, or want of resources.
Sword and purse, the military power and wealth of a nation.
PURSE, v.t. To put in a purse.
1. To contract into folds or wrinkles.
Thou didst contract and purse thy blow.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women); "she reached into her bag and found a comb" [syn: bag, handbag, pocketbook, purse]
2: 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"
3: a small bag for carrying money
4: a sum of money offered as a prize; "the purse barely covered the winner's expenses" v
1: contract one's lips into a rounded shape
2: gather or contract into wrinkles or folds; pucker; "purse ones's lips" [syn: purse, wrinkle]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English purs, from Old English, modification of Medieval Latin bursa, from Late Latin, ox hide, from Greek byrsa Date: before 12th century 1. a. (1) a small bag for money (2) a receptacle (as a pocketbook) for carrying money and often other small objects b. a receptacle (as a pouch) shaped like a purse 2. a. resources, funds b. a sum of money offered as a prize or present; also the total amount of money offered in prizes for a given event • purselike adjective II. transitive verb (pursed; pursing) Date: 14th century 1. to put into a purse 2. pucker, knit <pursed his brow>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a small pouch of leather etc. for carrying money on the person. 2 US a handbag. 3 a receptacle resembling a purse in form or purpose. 4 money, funds. 5 a sum collected as a present or given as a prize in a contest. --v. 1 tr. (often foll. by up) pucker or contract (the lips). 2 intr. become contracted and wrinkled. Phrases and idioms: hold the purse-strings have control of expenditure. the public purse the national treasury. Etymology: OE purs f. med.L bursa, byrsa purse f. Gk bursa hide, leather

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Purse Purse, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pursed; p. pr. & vb. n. Pursing.] 1. To put into a purse. I will go and purse the ducats straight. --Shak. 2. To draw up or contract into folds or wrinkles, like the mouth of a purse; to pucker; to knit. Thou . . . didst contract and purse thy brow. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Purse Purse, v. i. To steal purses; to rob. [Obs. & R.] I'll purse: . . . I'll bet at bowling alleys. --Beau. & Fl.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(purses, pursing, pursed) 1. A purse is a very small bag that people, especially women, keep their money in. (BRIT; in AM, use change purse) N-COUNT 2. A purse is a small bag that women carry. (AM; in BRIT, use bag, handbag) She looked at me and then reached in her purse for cigarettes. N-COUNT 3. Purse is used to refer to the total amount of money that a country, family, or group has. The money could simply go into the public purse, helping to lower taxes. N-SING: with supp 4. If you purse your lips, you move them into a small, rounded shape, usually because you disapprove of something or when you are thinking. She pursed her lips in disapproval. VERB: V n

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(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.)

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

purs.

See BAG.

Moby Thesaurus

Swiss bank account, abbreviate, and pence, assets, award, bag, balance, bank account, billfold, bottom dollar, bucks, budget, capital, cash, cash reserves, checking account, circumscribe, coarct, cocker, cockle, command of money, compact, compress, concentrate, condense, consolidate, constrict, constringe, contract, corrugate, cramp, crease, crimp, crimple, crinkle, crumple, curtail, decrease, dollars, dough, draw, draw in, draw together, exchequer, filthy lucre, finances, fund, funds, furrow, gift, handbag, income, kitty, knit, knot, life savings, lolly, loot, means, money, money belt, money clip, moneys, narrow, nest egg, pecuniary resources, pelf, pocket, pocketbook, poke, pool, porte-monnaie, pouch, pounds, present, prize, pucker, pucker up, purse strings, ready, reduce, reserves, resources, revenue, reward, riches, ridge, rimple, ripple, ruck, ruckle, rumple, savings, savings account, scratch, shekels, shillings, shirr, shorten, solidify, strangle, strangulate, substance, treasure, treasury, unregistered bank account, wallet, wealth, wherewithal, wimple, wrinkle