Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Needlessly nervous or useless activity; commotion.
  • noun A state of excessive and unwarranted concern over an unimportant matter.
  • noun An objection; a protest.
  • noun A quarrel.
  • noun A display of affectionate excitement and attention.
  • intransitive verb To trouble or worry over trifles.
  • intransitive verb To be excessively careful or solicitous.
  • intransitive verb To get into or be in a state of nervous or useless activity.
  • intransitive verb To object; complain.
  • intransitive verb To disturb or vex with unimportant matters.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To make much ado about trifles; make a bustle.
  • To disturb or confuse with trifling matters.
  • noun Trifling, useless, or annoying activity; disorderly bustle; an anxious display of petty energy.
  • noun A disturbing course of action; a display of perturbed feeling; disturbance; tumult: as, to make a fuss over a disappointment.
  • noun A large, fat, bustling person.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To be overbusy or unduly anxious about trifles; to make a bustle or ado.
  • noun A tumult; a bustle; unnecessary or annoying ado about trifles.
  • noun rare One who is unduly anxious about trifles; a fussbudget.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun countable or uncountable excessive activity, worry, bother, or talk about something
  • verb intransitive To be very worried or excited about something, often too much.
  • verb intransitive To fiddle; fidget; wiggle, or adjust; to worry something
  • verb intransitive To cry or be ill-humoured.
  • verb transitive To show affection for, especially animals.
  • verb transitive To pet.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a quarrel about petty points
  • noun a rapid active commotion
  • noun an excited state of agitation
  • noun an angry disturbance
  • verb worry unnecessarily or excessively
  • verb care for like a mother

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Perhaps from Danish fjas ("nonsense"), from Middle Low German (compare German faseln ("to maunder, talk nonsense"))

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