pish
English
Etymology
Expressive; perhaps partly from Scots pish (“piss”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɪʃ/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Rhymes: -ɪʃ
Interjection
pish
- Expressing disdain.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Noun
pish (plural pishes)
- A sibilant noise (e.g. "psshh") made by birders and ornithologists to attract small birds.
- Synonym of pish posh (“nonsense, poppycock”).
Verb
pish (third-person singular simple present pishes, present participle pishing, simple past and past participle pished)
- To try to attract birds by making a sibilant noise (e.g. "psshh").
- To express contempt.
- 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 73, column 1:
- Piſh for thee, Iſland dogge: thou prickeard cur of Iſland.
Usage notes
- Most commonly found in the gerund or present participle pishing.
Adjective
pish (comparative more pish, superlative most pish)
- (vulgar, colloquial, chiefly Scotland) Of poor quality; very bad.
References
- “pish”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- Dunne, Peter (2006). The Art of Pishing: How to Attract Birds by Mimicking Their Calls. →ISBN.
- Langham, G. M.; Contreras, T. A. & Sieving, K. E. (2006). Why pishing works: Titmouse (Paridae) scolds elicit a generalized response in bird communities. Ecoscience 13 (4): 485–496. doi:10.2980/1195-6860(2006)13[485:WPWTPS]2.0.CO;2
See also
- pish pash (etymlogically unrelated)
Anagrams
Chinese
Etymology
Deliberate misspelling of push, from English push.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pʰiʃ⁵⁵/
Verb
pish
- (Hong Kong Cantonese, Internet slang, leetspeak) to bump a thread in support
Synonyms
Antonyms
See also
- English: age
Chinook Jargon
Etymology 1
Borrowed from English fish, or possibly French pêche.
Noun
pish
Etymology 2
From Chinook opitshka.
Noun
pish
Synonyms
Mohegan-Pequot
Alternative forms
- beesh (obsolete orthography)
Etymology
Noun
pish
References
- A Vocabulary of Mohegan-Pequot (John D. Prince, Frank G. Speck)
Scots
Etymology
From late Middle English pyshe, variant of pisse.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɪʃ/
- Rhymes: -ɪʃ
Noun
pish (uncountable)
Verb
pish (third-person singular simple present pishes, present participle pishin, simple past pished, past participle pished)
Derived terms
- reekin o pish
Adjective
pish (comparative mair pish, superlative maist pish)
- (vulgar) Not very good, in fact quite bad.
Interjection
pish
- An expression of disdain.
References
- “pish”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.
Western Apache
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [pʰɪ̀ʃ]
Noun
pish