See Also: PURSE(law)
purse(1)(dictionary)
Sea purse(medicine)
Purse(medicine)
shepherd's purse(encyclopedia)
purse 2, verb(dictionary)
purse 1, noun(dictionary)
privy purse(dictionary)
change purse(dictionary)
purse-string(dictionary)

purse(1) (iou)



purse noun. LOE.
[Alt. (with p prob. after pung purse, pusa wallet) of late Latin bursa var. of byrsa from Greek bursa leather. Cf. BURSA, BURSE.]
I. Conn. with money.
A small pouch or bag of leather or other flexible material, orig. to be closed at the mouth by drawing tight two threaded strings or drawstrings, for carrying money on the person. LOE.
M. Flanagan She opened her purse There was not enough money to pay the driver.
Such a pouch or bag with its contents; the contents of a purse, money, funds. ME.
F. Raphael Their presence was a call on his purse and his patience.
A sum of money collected as a present or donated as a prize in a contest. Also, winnings. E17.
Golf World A loss in prize money..for the women professionalsalmost a fifth of their total purse.
Hist. In the Ottoman Empire, a specific sum of money, 500 or 600 piastres. L17.
A fragment of live coal exploding from a fire with a report (regarded as a good omen). Chiefly dial. M18.
II. gen. & transf.
a. A bag carried for any purpose; a wallet, a pouch, a sack. ME-M19.
b. spec. One of the official insignia of the Lord Chancellor. Cf. BURSE 1. Long rare or obsolete. L17.
a. The scrotum. ME-E18.
b. Biology. A natural receptacle resembling a bag or pocket. E16.
A small leather bag formerly used with a pull-down to prevent the escape of wind from an organ-pipe. M19.
A bag-shaped net or part of a net, used in fishing or rabbit-catching. Cf. purse-net below. L19.
A handbag. N. Amer. M20.
N. Mailer She..went to reach into her purse for a cigarette.
Phrases: be out of purse be the loser, be out of pocket. line one's purse: see LINE verb1 2. long purse: see LONG adjective1. privy purse: see PRIVY adjective. purse and person one's money and oneself. the public purse the national treasury.
Comb.: purse-bag rare a handbag, esp. one with a purse incorporated; purse-bearer (a) the bearer or carrier of a purse; a person in charge of money; a treasurer; (b) rare an official who carries the burse in front of the Lord Chancellor in procession; (c) rare a marsupial; purse-belt = money-belt s.v. MONEY noun; purse boat a large boat used for fishing with a purse-seine; purse-cutter (now rare) a thief who cuts purses and removes their contents; a cutpurse; purse-net a bag-shaped net, the mouth of which may be drawn together with cords, used in fishing and rabbit-catching (cf. sense 9 above); purse-pick, purse-picker rare a thief who steals purses; a pickpocket; purse-pride the pride or arrogance of the wealthy; purse-proud adjective proud or arrogant on account of one's wealth; purse seine a fishing net or seine which may be pursed or drawn into the shape of a bag, used for catching shoal fish; purse-seiner a vessel used in purse-seine fishing; purse-web a tubular spider's web supposed to resemble a kind of purse; purse-web spider, any of various mygalomorph spiders of the genus Atypus, which spin an enclosed tube-shaped web.
purseful noun as much or as many as a purse will hold ME.
purseless adjective without a purse L17.