purse
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A small bag for carrying money.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pursIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɝs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A small bag for carrying money
A container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women)
us
A handbag (small bag usually used by women for carrying various small personal items)
A quantity of money given for a particular purpose.
verb
transitive
To press (one's lips) in and together so that they protrude.
Contract one's lips into a rounded shape
Gather or contract into wrinkles or folds; pucker
To put into a purse.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- General and technical use
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A small bag for carrying money
Used this way, purse is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use purse
- “He made the contribution out of his own purse.”noun
- “The purse barely covered the winner's expenses.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
A container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women).
A wallet for paper money.
In certain phrases: money.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A search for an alternative that meets cognitive criteria.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A drawstring used to close the mouth of a purse.
A surgical procedure in which a suture is used to close the cervix in a pregnant woman.
A seine designed to be set by two boats around a school of fish and then closed at the bottom by means of a line.
The seaward undercurrent created after waves have broken on the shore.
White-flowered annual European herb bearing triangular notched pods.
Allowance for a monarch's personal expenses.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.