puss
puss Lexical Profile
puss Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An informal or affectionate name for a domestic cat (Felis catus), a small carnivorous mammal kept as a household pet; often used as a form of address.
"The old puss curled up contentedly on the warm rug beside the fireplace."
North American A person's mouth or face, especially when set in a sullen, pouting, or sour expression (informal slang).
"He sat at the end of the counter with a glum expression on his puss."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'puss' with its homophone 'pus' (spelled with one 's'), which refers to the thick, yellowish fluid produced by an infected wound. In the sense of a face or mouth, 'puss' is restricted to informal North American and Irish slang (as in 'sourpuss').
• Rhymes for puss
Word Origin & Etymology
In the sense of a cat, recorded in early Modern English with cognates across Germanic languages (such as Dutch 'poes' and Low German 'puus'), originally imitative of a hissing sound used to attract a cat's attention. The informal sense meaning 'mouth' or 'face' derives separately from Irish 'pus' ('lip' or 'mouth').