Definitions For Pursiness

Noun

PURSINESS (uncountable) The state of being pursy. shortness of breath, shortness of breath, especially due to fatness. 1649, {{w, Charles Hoole}}, An Easie Entrance to the Latine Tongue, London: Joshuah Kirton, II. A Vocabulary of the most common words English and Latine, 21. Of Diseases, p. 218, : pursiness, Asthma, ǎtis. f. 1838, {{w, Robert Smith Surtees}}, Jorrocks’s Jaunts and Jollities, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 2nd edition, 1843, No. I, “The Swell and the Surrey,” p. 6, : {{...}} any slight degree of pursiness that the good steeds may have acquired by standing at livery in Cripplegate, or elsewhere, is speedily pumped out of them by a smart brush over the turf {{...}} fatness, fatness, obesity. 1595, {{w, Thomas Lodge}}, A Fig for Momus, Epistle VI, cited in J. W. Lever, The Elizabethan Love Sonnet, London: Methuen, 1966, p. 150, : You pray me to aduise, and tell you what : Will take away your pursiness and fat, 1872, C. H. Cleaveland, Pronouncing Medical Lexicon, Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 14th edition, p. 202, : PURSINESS, {{...}} obesity. 1906, Florence Parsons (as “Mrs. Clement Parsons”), {{w, David Garrick, Garrick}} and His Circle, London: Methuen, p. 131, : {{w, William Hogarth, Hogarth}}’s fine portrait of {{w, James Quin, him}}, {{...}} recently acquired by the {{w, National Gallery}}, suggests the double chin and general pursiness of the bon vivant. The state of being puckered. 1969, Susan Morrow, A Season of Evil, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Chapter 13, p. 120, : When he smiled, the slight pursiness of his mouth disappeared, and a markedly irregular front tooth gave him a boyish air. 2000, {{w, Susan Holloway Scott, Miranda Jarrett}}, Starlight, New York: Sonnet Books, Chapter 4, p. 57, : {{...}} as his lips pressed down upon hers, coaxing them to abandon their pursiness and relax, she gave a little moan of surprise.