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# pussy

«pussy» in Mova's school dictionary: **A cat or kitten, especially in nursery rhymes and baby…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a pussy, pussies) — several unrelated meanings

### meaning for a pupil

1) (informal, childish) A cat or kitten, especially in nursery rhymes and baby talk: «pussy cat». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pussy/#m1)

2) (rude, slang) A vulgar word for a woman's private parts; it is offensive and not for school. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pussy/#m2)

3) (rude, slang) An insulting word for someone thought to be weak or cowardly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pussy/#m3)

4) «Pussy willow»: a willow tree with soft, furry grey buds in spring. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pussy/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In nursery rhymes such as «Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?» and «Ding dong bell, pussy's in the well», and in «The Owl and the Pussy-cat», it simply means a cat. In older children's speech, the rude senses may be heard as swearing or insults; teachers treat them as bad language. Phrases: «pussy cat», «pussy willow», «Puss in Boots» (a related word).

### examples

- Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pussy/#x1)
- The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pussy/#x2)
- Grandma calls her kitten «little pussy». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pussy/#x3)
- The pussy willow by the stream has soft grey buds. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pussy/#x4)
- Puss in Boots is a clever cat in a fairy tale. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pussy/#x5)
- Calling someone «a pussy» is rude and unkind, so we don't say it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pussy/#x6)
- ‘If only it were a little pussy cat!’ she said. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pussy/#x7)

### note

Plural «pussies». Register trap: the cat sense is old-fashioned and childish; many people now avoid the word because the rude senses are well known. Say «cat», «kitten», «kitty» instead. The rude senses are vulgar or insulting — do not use them at school. «Puss» = a cat (as in Puss in Boots).

### In the corpora

- [In the poem, a child likes his dog Binkie better than the Pussy, because Binkie is his true First Friend.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/95-justso-cat-3-the-cat-walks-by-himself/13/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «pussy» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pussy/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.