PURSE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Purse

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/pərs/ Listen

noun

Purse n.

1.

A small bag or pouch, the opening of which is made to draw together closely, used to carry money in; by extension, any receptacle for money carried on the person; a wallet; a pocketbook; a portemonnaie. " Who steals my purse steals trash."

2.

Hence, a treasury; finances; as, the public purse.

3.

A sum of money offered as a prize, or collected as a present; as, to win the purse; to make up a purse.

4.

A specific sum of money; as:

(a)

In Turkey, the sum of 500 piasters.

(b)

In Persia, the sum of 50 tomans.

Light purse, or Empty purse, poverty or want of resources.

Long purse, or Heavy purse, wealth; riches.

Purse crab (Zool.), any land crab of the genus Birgus, allied to the hermit crabs. They sometimes weigh twenty pounds or more, and are very strong, being able to crack cocoanuts with the large claw. They chiefly inhabit the tropical islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, living in holes and feeding upon fruit. Called also palm crab.

Purse net, a fishing net, the mouth of which may be closed or drawn together like a purse.

Purse pride, pride of money; insolence proceeding from the possession of wealth.

Purse rat. (Zool.) See Pocket gopher, under Pocket.

Sword and purse, the military power and financial resources of a nation.

verb

Purse v. t. (past & past part. pursed; pres. part. pursing)

1.

To put into a purse. "I will go and purse the ducats straight."

2.

To draw up or contract into folds or wrinkles, like the mouth of a purse; to pucker; to knit. "Thou... didst contract and purse thy brow."

Purse v. i. To steal purses; to rob. (Obs. & R.) "I'll purse:... I'll bet at bowling alleys."

See images of 'Purse'

Etymology of 'Purse'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Purse" Quotes from Famous Books

... forgotten keepsakes it may exist, but we shall not be likely to find it. No letter of his boyhood, no scrap of his earlier writing, has come to light except his penciled name, SAM CLEMENS, laboriously inscribed on the inside of a small worn purse that once held his meager, almost non-existent wealth. He became a printer's apprentice at twelve, but as he received no salary, the need of a purse could not have been urgent. He must have carried it pretty steadily, however, from its appearance—as a kind of symbol of hope, maybe—a ...

— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain

... ready to obey your commands. I will say nothing of the horse, because I know the times; but, as your Highness is aware, two years' salary is owing to me, and I have two masters working at my expense, so that I have had to advance fifteen lire out of my own purse to pay them. Gladly as I would undertake immortal works and show posterity that I have lived, I am obliged to earn my living.... May I remind your Highness of the commission to paint the ...

— Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475-1497 • Julia Mary Cartwright

... Prince a ring which he took from his purse, and his opponent instantly knew it for the same he had dropped into Alice's pitcher at the fountain, obeying only, through imprudently, the gallantry of the moment, in giving a pretty gem to a handsome girl, ...

— Woodstock; or, The Cavalier • Sir Walter Scott

... Dinah, amazed, "you rich men take a gold piece out of your purse as poor men bring out a farthing.... I do not know," she went on, turning to Lousteau, "whether it is taking an unfair advantage of a guest to hope for ...

— The Muse of the Department • Honore de Balzac

... renounces his share of an inheritance, and bestows it upon his old township. Or he buys a statue for a temple, finds the money for a new shrine, pays the debts of an acquaintance, gives a friend's daughter a handsome dowry, opens his purse and enables another deserving friend to acquire the status of a senator, or finds Martial his travelling expenses. All the rising young authors and barristers in Rome looked to him for encouragement and support; he was ready to attend ...

— The Letters of the Younger Pliny - Title: The Letters of Pliny the Younger - - Series 1, Volume 1 • Pliny the Younger

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