Informal.intr. & tr.v., cussed, cuss·ing, cuss·es.
To curse or curse at.
n.
- A curse.
- An odd or perverse person or creature.
[Alteration of CURSE.]
On this page
Informal.[Alteration of CURSE.]
Related Videos:
cuss |
Roget's Thesaurus:
cuss |
verb
noun
Houghton Mifflin Word Origins:
cuss |
By the early nineteenth century, we knew how to cuss. In an 1815 book called A Yankee in England, we find a definition: "Cuss, curse."
As the definition indicates, cuss is nothing more than a variation of the spelling and pronunciation of curse. To cuss, the verb, comes from the identical noun cuss, a form that is attested as early as 1775 in the Narragansett Historical Register: "A man that...was noted for a damn cuss." Like Bust (1764) from burst, it reflects the r-dropping pronunciation of New England and the South, as heard by others who pronounced the r. But somehow the cussing was so emphatic it took on a life of its own.
Or perhaps it was a euphemism, available to those who did not want to utter a word that was as shocking as curse. Evidence for this is in Mark Twain's use of the phrase cuss word in his 1872 book Roughing It: "He didn't give a continental for anybody. Beg your pardon, friend, for coming so near saying a cuss-word."
For whatever reason, Twain found the word congenial. He used it in Life on the Mississippi (1883): "He got mad and jumped up and begun to cuss the crowd, and said he could lam any thief in the lot." And in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884): "He...cussed me for putting on frills and trying to be better than him."
Cussing continues nowadays. It can be therapy, as in a 1976 article "Failure Is a Word I Don't Accept" from the Harvard Business Review: "How do you deal with anger? If I'm mad at somebody, I just go in a room, close the door, and cuss him or her out where nobody can hear me. Sometimes I write a letter that I don't mail. I've done a lot of that."
Random House Word Menu:
categories related to 'cuss' |

Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Cuss |
| Look up cuss in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Cuss may be:
| This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
Cuss |
Dansk (Danish)
n. - forbandelse, kraftudtryk, utålelig person
v. tr. - forbande
v. intr. - bande
Nederlands (Dutch)
vloek(en), uitschelden, snuiter
Français (French)
n. - juron, malédiction, individu, type
v. tr. - blasphémer, maudire
v. intr. - blasphémer, maudire
Deutsch (German)
v. - (ver)fluchen
n. - Fluch
Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - (καθομ.) βλαστημώ, βρίζω
n. - βλαστήμια, κατάρα, μάγκας, τύπος
Italiano (Italian)
bestemmiare, imprecare, dire parolacce, imprecazione, parolaccia
Português (Portuguese)
v. - amaldiçoar
n. - maldição (f) (coloq.)
Русский (Russian)
ругаться, ругательство
Español (Spanish)
n. - palabrota, blasfemia, maldición
v. tr. - blasfemar, jurar, maldecir
v. intr. - decir blasfemias, echar maldiciones , jurársela a
Svenska (Swedish)
v. - förbanna
n. - förbannelse, svordom, individ
中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
诅咒, 家伙, 坏话, 乱骂, 咒, 咒骂
中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 詛咒, 傢伙, 壞話
v. tr. - 亂罵, 咒
v. intr. - 詛咒, 咒罵
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 저주, 녀석
v. tr. - 저주하다, 악담하다
v. intr. - 저주하다, 악담하다
العربيه (Arabic)
(فعل) يلعن, شتم (الاسم) شتيمه, شخص
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - קללה, טיפוס, ברנש, יצור, שבועה
v. tr. - קילל
v. intr. - קילל
If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.
To select your translation preferences click here.
| cussed | |
| Useless Man (1995 Album by Minty) | |
| buss |
| Why cops can cuss at me but I can\'t cuss back? Read answer... | |
| Is it flirting when you cuss with this girl and she cusses back? Read answer... | |
| Did they cuss on iCarly? Read answer... |
| Where can you find a cuss? | |
| What is the worst cuss? | |
| Why does shadow cuss? |
Copyrights:
![]() |
![]() | American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
![]() |
![]() | Roget's Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
![]() |
![]() | Houghton Mifflin Word Origins. America in So Many Words, by David K.Barnhart and Allan A. Metcalf. Copyright © 1997 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
![]() |
![]() | Random House Word Menu. © 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier. Write Brothers Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
| Rhymes. Oxford University Press. © 2006, 2007 All rights reserved. Read more | ||
![]() |
![]() | Wikipedia on Answers.com. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Cuss. Read more |
![]() | Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more |
Mentioned in