Handbag vs Purse - What's the difference?
handbag | purse | Synonyms |
(mainly Commonwealth) A small bag used by women (or sometimes by men) for carrying various small personal items.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5
, passage=Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, with something of the stately pose which Richter has given his Queen Louise on the stairway, and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.}}
(uncountable) An anthemic subgenre of house music of the late 1980s, often with booming vocals.
(British, transitive, humorous) Figuratively, to hit with a handbag; to attack verbally or subject to criticism (used originally of ).
A small bag for carrying money.
* 1550 Mierdman, Steuen, The market or fayre of usurers
(US) A handbag (small bag usually used by women for carrying various small personal items)
A quantity of money given for a particular purpose.
* , Episode 12, The Cyclops
(historical) A specific sum of money in certain countries: formerly 500 piastres in Turkey or 50 tomans in Persia.
To press (one's lips) in and together so that they protrude.
* 1979 , (Monty Python), (Always Look on the Bright Side of Life)
To draw up or contract into folds or wrinkles; to pucker; to knit.
* Shakespeare
To put into a purse.
* Shakespeare
(intransitive, obsolete, rare) To steal purses; to rob.
* Beaumont and Fletcher
Purse is a synonym of handbag.
As nouns the difference between handbag and purse
is that handbag is a small bag used by women (or sometimes by men) for carrying various small personal items while purse is a small bag for carrying money.As verbs the difference between handbag and purse
is that handbag is figuratively, to hit with a handbag; to attack verbally or subject to criticism (used originally of Margaret Thatcher) while purse is to press (one's lips) in and together so that they protrude.handbag
English
Noun
(en noun)Synonyms
* (bag used by women) purse (North American) * (subgenre of house music) diva house, handbag houseHyponyms
* man-bag, murseDerived terms
* handbags at ten paces * hardbag * man-bagVerb
(handbagg)External links
* * ("handbag" on Wikipedia)purse
English
(wikipedia purse)Noun
(en noun)- And then mu?t many a man occupie as farre as his pur?e would reache, and ?tretche out his legges accordynge to the length of his couerlet.
- It was a historic and a hefty battle when Myler and Percy were scheduled to don the gloves for the purse of fifty sovereigns.
Synonyms
* (small bag for carrying money) pocketbook; coin purse, change purse * (especially US) * (small bag used by women) handbag (especially UK) * (quantity of money) bursary, grantDerived terms
* common purse * make a silk purse of a sow's ear * murseSee also
* walletVerb
(purs)- When you're feeling in the dumps
- Don't be silly chumps
- Just purse your lips and whistle – that's the thing.
- Thou didst contract and purse thy brow.
- I will go and purse the ducats straight.
- I'll purse : I'll bet at bowling alleys.
