PURSE

bag, handbag, pocketbook, purse

(noun) a container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women); “she reached into her bag and found a comb”

purse

(noun) a small bag for carrying money

purse

(noun) a sum of money offered as a prize; “the purse barely covered the winner’s expenses”

purse

(noun) 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”

purse

(verb) contract one’s lips into a rounded shape

purse, wrinkle

(verb) gather or contract into wrinkles or folds; pucker; “purse ones’s lips”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

purse (plural purses)

A small bag for carrying money.

(US) A handbag (small bag usually used by women for carrying various small personal items)

A quantity of money given for a particular purpose.

(historical) A specific sum of money in certain countries: formerly 500 piastres in Turkey or 50 tomans in Persia.

Synonyms

• (small bag for carrying money): pocketbook; coin purse, change purse

• (especially US)

• (small bag used by women): handbag (especially UK)

• (quantity of money): bursary, grant

Verb

purse (third-person singular simple present purses, present participle pursing, simple past and past participle pursed)

(transitive) 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.

(intransitive, obsolete, rare) To steal purses; to rob.

Synonyms

• pucker

Anagrams

• Pre-Us, Rupes, pures, re-ups, reups, rupes, sprue, super, super-

Proper noun

Purse

A surname.

Anagrams

• Pre-Us, Rupes, pures, re-ups, reups, rupes, sprue, super, super-

Source: Wiktionary

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Purse, n. Etym: [OE. purs, pors, OF. burse, borse, bourse, F. bourse, LL. bursa, fr. Gr. 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 (Zoöl.), 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. (Zoöl.) See Pocket gopher, under Pocket.

– Sword and purse, the military power and financial resources of a nation.

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.

Purse, v. i.

Definition: To steal purses; to rob. [Obs. & R.] I'll purse: . . . I'll bet at bowling alleys. Beau. & Fl.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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