# pussy
## English
### Etymology 1

From puss +‎ -y (diminutive suffix).

#### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: po͝osʹi, IPA: /ˈpʊsi/
* Audio (Northern California):(file)
* Rhymes: -ʊsi
* Hyphenation: pus‧sy

#### Noun

pussy (countable and uncountable, plural pussies)
* (informal, endearing) A cat. [from 17th c.]
** 2007 November 17, Liz Jones, “Are cats the new dogs?”, in The Independent:And although, as someone recently said to me, they are not "designer" (she had expected my pussies to be expensive, with a pedigree), to me my cats are the most beautiful in the world.
* (vulgar, colloquial) The female genitalia; the vulva or vagina. [from 17th c.]
** 2016, Alexandra Sirowy, The Telling (young adult fiction), Simon & Schuster, page 6:There's a lot of disagreement about where that word came from. Pussy is actually a diminutive of pusillanimous, meaning cowardly. Although maybe the origin doesn't matter, since everyone equates it with the female anatomy anyway?
* Anything soft and furry; a bloom form, or catkin, as on the pussy willow. [from 19th c.]
* (vulgar, slang, uncountable, often in the phrase "to get some pussy") Sexual intercourse with a woman. [from 20th c.]
    I’m gonna get me some pussy tonight.
** 1991, Daniel Clowes, Art School Confidential:The teachers are not there to help you. Most of them are still freelancers and the last thing they want is more competition. They are there because they need a steady paycheck and they hope to score some pussy!
* (derogatory, vulgar, slang) A coward; a weakling; an ineffectual, timid, or pathetic person. [from 20th c.]
    You're such a pussy!
** 1925, Sinclair Lewis, Martin Arrowsmith (fiction), Harcourt Brace & Company:You ought to hear some of the docs that are the sweetest old pussies with their patients—the way they bawl out the nurses. But labs—they seem sort of real. I don't suppose you can bluff a bacteria—what is it?—bacterium?
** 1983, Oliver Stone, directed by Brian de Palma, Scarface, spoken by Tony Montana (Al Pacino):This town is like a great big pussy just waiting to get fucked!
** 2007 November 26, Matt Keating, “Do everyone a favour and don't bring your cold to work”, in The Guardian‎, archived from the original on 6 October 2014:I couldn't carry the burden of shame engendered by the bully-boy advertising of "max-strength" cold and flu remedies, the obvious subtext of which is "Get to work, you pussy."
** 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Prison Ship Purgatory:Shepard: You're in a bad situation, and I'm going to get you out of here. Jack: Shit, you sound like a pussy.
* (colloquial, endearing, now rare) A woman or girl, seen as having characteristics associated with cats such as sweetness. [from 16th c.]
** 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:‘I hope you two have been mewed in with that old pussy long enough. While you’ve been tittle-tattling I’ve been doing, — listen to what this bobby’s got to say.’
** 2010 June 3, Jojo Moyes, “Why love letters are better left unread”, in The Telegraph:If Lloyd George’s endearments to mistress Frances Stevenson – “My darling Pussy. You might phone… on Friday if you can come. Don’t let Hankey see you” – had been made similarly public, would he have maintained his own reputation as a towering statesman?
* (LGBTQ, vulgar) The anus of a man, usually the passive participant in gay sex.
* (LGBTQ, vulgar) The anus of a trans woman.
* (vulgar, humorous, Internet slang) Used in blends to form deliberately grotesque and unwieldy words referring to cavities. See -ussy.
    thrussy; clussy
* (vulgar, humorous, Internet slang) A notional part of the body used during exertion of effort; usually in the form put one's whole pussy into.
* (dated) A game of tipcat.

##### Synonyms

* (cat): kitty, kitty-cat, puss, pussy-cat; see also Thesaurus:cat
* (affectionate term): darling, honey, pussums; see also Thesaurus:sweetheart
* (female genitalia): poontang, coochie, punani, quim; see Thesaurus:vulva or Thesaurus:vagina
* (uncountable: intercourse with woman): poontang, poon, tang, punani; see also Thesaurus:copulation
* (cowardly man): scaredy-cat, wimp, wuss; see also Thesaurus:coward
* (ineffectual, timid, or pathetic person): pansy, sissy, weenie, weakling; see also Thesaurus:milksop
* (tip-cat): cat, cat and dog, one-a-cat, piggy

##### Hypernyms

* (female genitalia): genitals

##### Derived terms

* a pussy and a pulse
* boy pussy
* bussy
* clussy
* eat pussy
* Europussy
* high as giraffe pussy
* pussification
* pussify
* pussyarse
* pussyass
* pussy bandit
* pussy bow
* pussy-boy
* pussy boy
* pussybreath
* pussycat
* pussy control
* pussydom
* pussy eating
* pussy fart
* pussyfication
* pussy finger
* pussyfoot
* pussyfuck
* pussyfucker
* Pussygate
* pussygirl
* pussy hat
* pussyhole
* pussy juice
* pussyless
* pussylicker
* pussylike
* pussy lips
* pussy magnet
* pussyman
* pussy money
* pussymonger
* pussyologist
* pussyology
* pussy out
* pussy pad
* pussy pass
* pussy posse
* pussy pounding
* pussy power
* pussy print
* pussy repellent
* pussy tickler
* pussytoe
* pussytoes
* pussy torture
* pussy wants a corner
* pussy whip
* pussywhipped
* pussy willow
* thussy
* -ussy

##### Descendants

* Maori: poti, puihi

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

From pus +‎ -y.

#### Pronunciation

* enPR: pŭs'i, IPA: /ˈpʌsi/
* Audio (Northern California):(file)

#### Adjective

pussy (comparative pussier, superlative pussiest)
* (medicine) Containing or exuding pus.
    Synonyms: purulent, suppurant

##### Alternative forms

* pusy

##### Translations
### Etymology 3
#### Adjective

pussy (comparative more pussy, superlative most pussy)
* (slang, dated) Alternative form of pursy

### Further reading

* “pussy”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

### References

* “pussy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* Fielding, Lucie (2021) Trans Sex: Clinical Approaches to Trans Sexualities and Erotic Embodiments, New York: Routledge, →ISBN, page 96