compursion

English

compursion (plural compursions)

(rare) A pursing, as of the lips.
- 1761, [Laurence Sterne], The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volume IV, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], →OCLC:
  However, as he knew not what the true cause might turn out, he deemed it most prudent, in the situation he was in at present, to bear it, if possible, like a Stoic, which, with the help of some wry faces and compursions of the mouth, he had certainly accomplished, had his imagination continued neuter: […]
- 2001, Jamie O'Neill, At Swim, Two Boys, page 254:
  A compursion of the boy's face. "Does it mean something I don't understand?"