puss

Meaning

Noun

• A cat.
• A girl or young woman, or any child.
• A hare.
• The vulva (female genitalia).
• A coward; a wuss; someone who is unable to stand up for themself.
• The mouth.
• Alternate spelling of pus

Related

Similar words

• moggie/moggy
• cakehole, gob, mush, trap

Origin

• Probably from Middle Low German pūs, pūskatte or Dutch poes ("puss, cat”, slang for “vulva"), ultimately from a common Germanic word for cat, perhaps ultimately imitative of a sound made to get its attention (compare Arabic بسة).
• Akin to West Frisian poes, Low German Puus, Puuskatte, Danish pus, dialectal Swedish kattepus, Norwegian pus.
• Found also in several other European, North African and West Asian languages; compare Romanian pisică and Sardinian pisittu.
• Of Celtic origin, from or akin to Irish pus ("mouth, lip"), from Middle Irish bus.