pursiness

English

Etymology

From pursy +‎ -ness.

Noun

pursiness (uncountable)

1. The state of being pursy.
   1. Shortness of breath, especially due to fatness.
      • 1649, Charles Hoole, An Easie Entrance to the Latine Tongue‎^[1], London: Joshuah Kirton, II. A Vocabulary of the most common words English and Latine, 21. Of Diseases, page 218:

        pursiness, Asthma, ǎtis. f.

      • 1838, 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,^[2]

        […] 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 […]

   2. Fatness, obesity.
      • 1595, Thomas Lodge, A Fig for Momus, Epistle VI, cited in J. W. Lever, The Elizabethan Love Sonnet, London: Methuen, 1966, p. 150,^[3]

        You pray me to aduise, and tell you what

        Will take away your pursiness and fat,

      • 1872, C. H. Cleaveland, Pronouncing Medical Lexicon‎^[4], 14th edition, Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, page 202:

        PURSINESS, […] obesity.

      • 1906, Florence Parsons (as “Mrs. Clement Parsons”), Garrick and His Circle, London: Methuen, p. 131,^[5]

        Hogarth’s fine portrait of him, […] recently acquired by the National Gallery, suggests the double chin and general pursiness of the bon vivant.

   3. The state of being puckered.
      • 1969, Susan Morrow, chapter 13, in A Season of Evil‎^[6], Garden City, NY: Doubleday, page 120:

        When he smiled, the slight pursiness of his mouth disappeared, and a markedly irregular front tooth gave him a boyish air.

      • 2000, Miranda Jarrett, chapter 4, in Starlight‎^[7], New York: Sonnet Books, page 57:

        […] as his lips pressed down upon hers, coaxing them to abandon their pursiness and relax, she gave a little moan of surprise.

References

• “pursiness”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.