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Puss

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A cat, hare, or rabbit. (Irish, pus, a cat.) It is said that the word, applied to a hare or rabbit, is from the Latin lepus, Frenchified into le pus. True or not, the pun may pass muster.

“Oh, puss, it bodes thee dire disgrace,

When I defy thee to the race.

Come, ʹtis a bet; nay, no denial,

Iʹll lay my shell upon the trial.”


 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Puritans
Purkinge’s Figures
Purler (A)
Purlieu
Purple (blue and red)
Purple (Promotion to the)
Purpure [purple]
Pursy, Pursiness
Pururavas and Urvasi
Puseyite
Puss
Puss in Boots [Le Chat Botté]
Put
Put the Cart before the Horse
Put up the Shutters (To)
Putney and Mortlake Race
Putting on Frills (American)
Putting on Side
Pygmalion
Pygmies
Pylades and Orestes

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