Definitions

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

  • intransitive & transitive verb To curse or curse at.
  • noun A curse.
  • noun A stubborn or annoying person or animal.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To curse; swear at.
  • To curse; swear; use profane language.
  • An obsolete variant of kiss. Chaucer.
  • noun A curse: used both in the proper sense, as an imprecation, and (as equivalent to curse) as a symbol of worthlessness: see curse, curse.
  • noun [A particular use of the preceding, but perhaps in part associated with customer, somewhat similarly used.] A fellow; a perverse or refractory person: a general term of contempt or reproach (sometimes very slight or jocose): usually with an epithet: as, a hard cuss; a mean cuss; a little cuss.

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

  • verb To use cursing, to use bad language, to speak profanely.

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

  • verb utter obscenities or profanities
  • noun a boy or man
  • noun profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
  • noun a persistently annoying person

Etymologies

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

[Alteration of curse.]

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Examples

  • "And the way he can cuss is simply God-awful," Big Bill testified.

    LIKE ARGUS OF THE ANCIENT TIMES 2010

  • "And the way he can cuss is simply God-awful," Big Bill testified.

    Like Argus of the Ancient Times 1918

  • Q: Why did you decide to pepper the word cuss throughout the film; where did that idea come from?

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Brad Balfour 2010

  • Just ask my boyfriend, who is constantly elbowing me every time I cuss, which is all too often.

    Become Your Own Matchmaker Patti Stanger with Lisa Johnson Mandell 2009

  • In Chicago, John Laskowski was charged with disorderly conduct and fined $20 for shouting what the prosecution called cuss words after an operator told him that not only was the line he wanted busy, but also that he couldnt get back the money he had deposited into the pay phone he was using.

    Your Call Is (Not That) Important to Us Emily Yellin 2009

  • 'Well,' said she, when I had stopped to look round, 'it's my belief as the cuss is a-workin' now, and'll have to spend itself.

    Aylwin Theodore Watts-Dunton 1873

  • I do appreciate the occasional well-meaning attempts to find sanitized alternative terms that preserve some of the flavor of the old standards, whether it's "cuss" in Fantastic Mr. Fox, "frak" on Battlestar Galactica, "shut the front door" in The Kids Are All Right or, of course, "smurf" on The Smurfs.

    Eric Williams: F***ing up the Charts: on F-Words and Music Eric Williams 2010

  • Yeah, I've used "cuss" a few times since seeing it.

    Book Vs. Movie: Fantastic Mr. Fox 2010

  • (One of the film's tropes is to have the characters speak in surprisingly salty language, but to replace each four-letter word with the word "cuss," a word substitution reminiscent of Diablo Cody.)

    Alex Remington: Fantastic Mr. Fox: This Roald Dahl Adaptation Gets It Somewhat Right 2009

  • I also loved that they said the word "cuss" in place of any actual cuss word.

    Movie Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox | /Film 2009

Comments

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  • Sometimes a noun meaning an odd or perverse person, often used with a disclaimer, such as: "He was acstually a good hearted old cuss."

    June 30, 2007

  • A consortium of Continental, Union, Superior and Shell Oil Companies.

    April 24, 2009

  • catch u sometime soon.

    April 24, 2009

  • "5. An obsolete variant of kiss. Chaucer."

    --Century Dictionary

    December 23, 2010