pish
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɪʃ/
Noun
pish (plural pishes)
- A sibilant noise (e.g. "psshh") made by birders and ornithologists to attract small birds.
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, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene 1], page 73, column 1:
- Piſh for thee, Iſland dogge: thou prickeard cur of Iſland.
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Adjective
pish (comparative more pish, superlative most pish)
- (vulgar, colloquial, chiefly Scotland) Of poor quality; very bad.
Usage notes
- Most commonly found in the gerund or present participle pishing.
References
- pish in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- 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
Chinook Jargon
Etymology 2
From Chinook opitshka.
Mohegan-Pequot
Alternative forms
- beesh (obsolete orthography)
References
- A Vocabulary of Mohegan-Pequot (John D. Prince, Frank G. Speck)
Scots
Etymology
From late Middle English pyshe, variant of pisse.
Pronunciation
- enPR: pĭsh, IPA(key): /pɪʃ/
- Rhymes: -ɪʃ
Verb
pish (third-person singular present pishes, present participle pishin, 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.
References
- “pish” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.
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