Word.ws English Dictionary

pursing

pursing is the present participle and gerund of purse.

Meaning of purse

Verb

purse (third-person singular simple present purses, present participle pursing, simple past and past participle pursed)

  1. (transitive) To press (one's lips) in and together so that they protrude.
    • The serving Sister pursed up her lips to remind him of the cloistral rule, almost as if she wanted to prevent any conversation between him and the nun.1901, Matilde Serao, The Land of Cockayne, translator not credited, London: Heinemann, Chapter IV, p. 72, https://archive.org/details/landofcockayne00seraiala
    Synonyms:
    round
  2. To draw up or contract into folds or wrinkles; to pucker; to knit.
    • […] thou […] didst contract and purse thy brow together, / As if thou then hadst shut up in thy brain / Some horrible conceit: […]c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
  3. To put into a purse.
    • And I will go and purse the ducats straight,c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  4. (intransitive, obsolete, rare) To steal purses; to rob.
    • Why I'll purse; if that raise me not, I'll bet at bowling alleys, or man whores: I would fain live by others.1647–1679, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “Scornful Lady”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act I, scene i

See all 9 meanings of purse

Noun

pursing (plural pursings)

  1. An expression or motion that purses.
    • The muscles about the mouth exhibited puckering movements and occasional pursings and poutings of the lips.1973, Oliver Sacks, Awakenings

Forms of pursing

pluralpursings

Questions about pursing

What does pursing mean?
Pursing means an expression or motion that purses.
What is pursing the present participle and gerund of?
Pursing is the present participle and gerund of purse.
What part of speech is pursing?
Pursing is a noun.
What is the plural of pursing?
The plural of pursing is pursings.

Words near pursing in the dictionary

  1. pursiest
  2. Pursifull
  3. Pursifulls
  4. pursily
  5. pursiness
  6. pursing
  7. pursings
  8. pursiut
  9. pursive
  10. pursiveness
  11. purslain

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pursing (page history and authors); purse (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “pursing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pursing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.