arse

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
4
Words With Friends
4
Letters
4
Pronunciation
/ɑːs/
See all 5 pronunciations
/ɑːs/ · /ɐːs/ · /aɹs/ · /äːɹs/ · /ɑɹs/(US)

Definition of arse

7 senses · 3 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. (Commonwealth, vulgar)A person's buttocks; the bottom, the backside. Also: the anus; the rectum.
    “As the novel progresses, he is shot in the hand with his own gun, shot in the arse with someone else's and lacerated by a prosthetic weed trimmer.”
    “No one, then or now, wanted to drink the mead that came out of Odin's arse.”
    “Or to put it in the more colourful language of our Prime Minister: "The secret to improving rail transport, in my view, is you need to find the right arse to kick." Unfortunately, since the abolition of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) in 2005, the DfT has ostensibly been in direct control of railway policy setting, and this has meant that the only arse the government has been able to kick is its own.”
See all 7 definitions

noun

  1. (Commonwealth, vulgar)A person's buttocks; the bottom, the backside. Also: the anus; the rectum.
    “As the novel progresses, he is shot in the hand with his own gun, shot in the arse with someone else's and lacerated by a prosthetic weed trimmer.”
    “No one, then or now, wanted to drink the mead that came out of Odin's arse.”
    “Or to put it in the more colourful language of our Prime Minister: "The secret to improving rail transport, in my view, is you need to find the right arse to kick." Unfortunately, since the abolition of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) in 2005, the DfT has ostensibly been in direct control of railway policy setting, and this has meant that the only arse the government has been able to kick is its own.”
  2. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, derogatory, slang)A stupid, pompous, arrogant, mean or despicable person.
    ““You're an arse,” Ellen said. ¶ “Please? You must like something about me …?” ¶ “I do. You're an arse. I just told you that. I feel comfy with you, because you're such an arse.””
    “He looked at me, was just about to call me an arse, when I told him, “You throw it too hard. Try and think of the javelin hitting the target before you throw it. Let it all go through your mind first, see it, feel it, then throw it.” ¶ “Good advice, you arse,” he said and tried again.”
    “Felnigg. What a suppurating arse. Look at him. Arse.”
  3. (slang, uncountable, vulgar)Used in similes to express something bad or unpleasant.
  4. (countable, metonymically, slang, vulgar)A person; the self; (reflexively) oneself or one's person, chiefly their body; (by extension) one's personal safety, or figuratively one's job, prospects, etc.
  5. (abbreviation, alt-of)Abbreviation of arylsulfatase E, an enzyme, deficiencies in which are associated with abnormalities in cartilage and bone development.

verb

  1. (Commonwealth, intransitive, slang)To be silly, act stupid or mess around.
    “Stop arsing around!”
    “He was university material, just arsing about as a rigger, arsing about, killing time with bohunks like me[…].”
    “Pi, upset, roars, "Quit arsing around there and get cracking," and a dozen heads turn their way.”
    “He was half-expecting a call from the lingua, telling him to stop arsing around, but his com stayed silent, so it looked like a certain amount of arsing around was allowed.”

intj

  1. (Commonwealth)An expression of frustration.
    “(euphemistic)”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English ars, ers, from Old English ærs, ears, from Proto-West Germanic *ars, from Proto-Germanic *arsaz (compare Dutch aars and German Arsch), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁órsos (“backside, buttocks”).

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4 extensions · 3 front · 1 back

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