Link Centre Dictionary

purse

UK/pɜːs/ US/pɝs/ common us
noun (4) verb (2)

noun

1.

a bag used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women)

  • “she reached into her bag and found a comb”
Synonyms
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”

verb

1.

contract one''s lips into a rounded shape

2.

gather or contract into wrinkles or folds; pucker

  • “purse ones”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English purs, 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”). 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”).

Phrases

  • beggar's purse
  • belt purse
  • change purse
  • coin purse
  • common purse
  • cut one's cloth to suit one's purse
  • devil's purse
  • empty as a pauper's purse

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.