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.
- 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.
- To curse; swear at.
- To curse; swear; use profane language.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To use
cursing , to usebad language , to speakprofanely .
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
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Examples
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"And the way he can cuss is simply God-awful," Big Bill testified.
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"And the way he can cuss is simply God-awful," Big Bill testified.
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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
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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
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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
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'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
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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
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Yeah, I've used "cuss" a few times since seeing it.
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(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
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I also loved that they said the word "cuss" in place of any actual cuss word.
slumry commented on the word cuss
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
artoparts commented on the word cuss
A consortium of Continental, Union, Superior and Shell Oil Companies.
April 24, 2009
bilby commented on the word cuss
catch u sometime soon.
April 24, 2009
ruzuzu commented on the word cuss
"5. An obsolete variant of kiss. Chaucer."
--Century Dictionary
December 23, 2010