Purse

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Purse, n. [OE. purs, pors, OF. burse, borse, bourse, F. bourse, LL. bursa, fr. Gr. hide, skin, leather. Cf. Bourse, Bursch, Bursar, Buskin.].

•  A small bag or pouch, the opening of which is made to draw together closely, used to carry money in; by extension, any receptacle for money carried on the person; a wallet; a pocketbook; a portemonnaie.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]

  " Who steals my purse steals trash."  [1913 Webster]
•  Hence, a treasury; finances; as, the public purse.  [1913 Webster]
•  A sum of money offered as a prize, or collected as a present; as, to win the purse; to make up a purse.  [1913 Webster]
•  A specific sum of money  [1913 Webster]

Light purse, or Empty purse, poverty or want of resources. -- Long purse, Heavy purse, wealth; riches. -- Purse crab (Zoöl.), any land crab of the genus Birgus, allied to the hermit crabs. They sometimes weigh twenty pounds or more, and are very strong, being able to crack cocoanuts with the large claw. They chiefly inhabit the tropical islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, living in holes and feeding upon fruit. Called also palm crab. -- Purse net, a fishing net, the mouth of which may be closed or drawn together like a purse. Mortimer. -- Purse pride, pride of money; insolence proceeding from the possession of wealth. Bp. Hall. -- Purse rat. (Zoöl.) See Pocket gopher, under Pocket. -- Sword and purse, the military power and financial resources of a nation.

Purse, v. t. 

•  To put into a purse.  [1913 Webster]

  "I will go and purse the ducats straight."  [1913 Webster]
•  To draw up or contract into folds or wrinkles, like the mouth of a purse; to pucker; to knit.  [1913 Webster]

  "Thou . . . didst contract and purse thy brow."  [1913 Webster]

Purse, v. i. 

 To steal purses; to rob.  [1913 Webster]
"I'll purse: . . . I'll bet at bowling alleys."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Purse, n. & v.
--n.
1 a small pouch of leather etc. for carrying money on the person.
2 US a handbag.
3 a receptacle resembling a purse in form or purpose.
4 money, funds.
5 a sum collected as a present or given as a prize in a contest.
--v.
1 tr. (often foll. by up) pucker or contract (the lips).
2 intr. become contracted and wrinkled.

Idiom

hold the purse-strings have control of expenditure. the public purse the national treasury.

Etymology

OE purs f. med.L bursa, byrsa purse f. Gk bursa hide, leather

THESAURUS

Purse

Swiss bank account, abbreviate, and pence, assets, award, bag, balance, bank account, billfold, bottom dollar, bucks, budget, capital, cash, cash reserves, checking account, circumscribe, coarct, cocker, cockle, command of money, compact, compress, concentrate, condense, consolidate, constrict, constringe, contract, corrugate, cramp, crease, crimp, crimple, crinkle, crumple, curtail, decrease, dollars, dough, draw, draw in, draw together, exchequer, filthy lucre, finances, fund, funds, furrow, gift, handbag, income, kitty, knit, knot, life savings, lolly, loot, means, money, money belt, money clip, moneys, narrow, nest egg, pecuniary resources, pelf, pocket, pocketbook, poke, pool, porte-monnaie, pouch, pounds, present, prize, pucker, pucker up, purse strings, ready, reduce, reserves, resources, revenue, reward, riches, ridge, rimple, ripple, ruck, ruckle, rumple, savings, savings account, scratch, shekels, shillings, shirr, shorten, solidify, strangle, strangulate, substance, treasure, treasury, unregistered bank account, wallet, wealth, wherewithal, wimple, wrinkle

ROGET THESAURUS

Purse

Money

N money, legal tender, money matters, money market, finance, accounts, funds, treasure, capital, stock, assets, wealth, supplies, ways and means, wherewithal, sinews of war, almighty dollar, needful, cash, mammon, dough, cabbage, money-like instruments, M, M, sum, amount, balance, balance sheet, sum total, proceeds, currency, circulating medium, specie, coin, piece, hard cash, cold cash, dollar, sterling coin, pounds shillings and pence, Ls, d, pocket, breeches pocket, purse, money in hand, cash at hand, ready money, ready cash, slug, wad wad of bills, wad of money, thick wad of bills, roll of dough, rhino, blunt, dust, mopus, tin, salt, chink, argent comptant, bottom dollar, buzzard dollar, checks, dibs, double eagle, eagle, Federal currency, fractional currency, postal currency, Federal Reserve Note, United States Note, silver certificate, gold certificate, long bit, short bit, moss, nickel, pile, pin money, quarter, red cent, roanoke, rock, seawan, seawant, thousand dollars, grand, single, one-dollar bill, two- dollar bill, five-dollar bill, fiver, fin, Lincoln, ten-dollar bill, sawbuck, twenty-dollar bill, Jackson, double sawbuck, fifty-dollar bill, hundred-dollar bill, C-note, penny, cent, Lincoln cent, indian head penny, copper, two-cent piece three-cent piece, half- dime, nickel, buffalo nickel, V nickel, dime, disme, mercury dime, quarter, two bits, half dollar, dollar, silver dollar, Eisenhower dollar, Susan B, Anthony dollar, precious metals, gold, silver, copper, bullion, ingot, nugget, petty cash, pocket money, change, small change, small coin, doit, stiver, rap, mite, farthing, sou, penny, shilling, tester, groat, guinea, rouleau, wampum, good sum, round sum, lump sum, power of money, plum, lac of rupees, major coin, crown, minor coin, monetarist, monetary theory, numismatics, chrysology, numismatist, paper money, greenback, major denomination, minor denomination, money order, postal money order, Post Office order, bank note, bond, bill, bill of exchange, order, warrant, coupon, debenture, exchequer bill, assignat, blueback, hundi, shinplaster, note, note of hand, promissory note, I O U, draft, check, cheque, back-dated check, negotiable order of withdrawal, NOW, remittance, credit, liability, drawer, drawee, obligor, obligee, moneyer, coiner, false money, bad money, base coin, flash note, slip, kite, fancy stocks, Bank of Elegance, argumentum ad crumenam, letter of credit, circulation, multiplier effect, inflation, double-digit inflation, hyperinflation, erosion of the currency, debasement of the currency, deflation, stagflation, exchange rate, rate of exchange, floating exchange rates, fixed rates, currency counter, currency exchange, bureau de change, gold-backed currency, gold standard, silver standard, bank account, savings account, checking account, money market account, NOW account, time deposit, deposit, demand deposit, super NOW account, certificate of deposit, CD, $, US$, Y, A$, Federal Reserve Bank, central bank, Federal Reserve Board, board of governors of the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, Secret Service, mint, bureau of engraving, seigniorage, counterfeit, funny money, bogus money, (falsehood), interest, interest rate, discount rate, monetary, pecuniary, crumenal, fiscal, financial, sumptuary, numismatic, numismatical, sterling, nummary, barbarus ipse placet dummodo sit dives, but the jingling of the guinea helps the hurt that, Gelt regiert die Welt, money rules the world, money makes the world go round, nervos belli pecuniam infinitam, redet Geld so schweigt die Welt, money is the mother's milk of politics, money is the root of all evil, money isn't everything, as phony as a three-dollar bill, don't take any wooden nickels.

Treasury

N treasury, bank, exchequer, fisc, hanaper, cash register, kutcherry, bursary, strong box, strong hold, strong room, coffer, chest, safe, bank vault, depository, till, tiller, purse, money bag, money box, porte-monnaie, purse strings, pocket, breeches pocket, sinking fund, stocks, public stocks, public funds, public securities, parliamentary stocks, parliamentary funds, parliamentary securities, Consols, credit mobilier, bonds.