bulse
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Portuguese bolsa. Doublet of purse.
Noun
[edit]bulse (plural bulses)
- (now rare) A bag or package of diamonds, gold dust or other precious materials.
- 1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford, published 2008, page 997:
- [L]et me then comfort myself with the large treasure of Johnson's conversation which I have preserved for my own entertainment and that of the world, and let me exhibit what I have upon each occasion, whether more or less, whether a bulse, or only a few sparks of a diamond.
- 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
- bulses of diamonds and bags of guineas