See also: Bouse and boûse

English edit

Etymology 1 edit

Of unknown origin.

Alternative forms edit

Verb edit

bouse (third-person singular simple present bouses, present participle bousing, simple past and past participle boused)

  1. (nautical) To haul or hoist (something) with a tackle.

Etymology 2 edit

From Middle English bous (noun), bousen (verb), from Middle Dutch būsen, buisen, buysen (to drink heavily). Related to Middle High German būsen (to swell, inblow). More at beer.

Noun edit

bouse (countable and uncountable, plural bouses)

  1. (obsolete) drink, especially alcoholic drink
    • 1665, Richard Head, The English Rogue[1], page 46:
      Bien Darkmans then, Bouse Mort and Ken
  2. (obsolete) a carouse; a booze
    • 1858, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II of Prussia[2], volume 1, Chapman and Hall, published 1873, page 192:
      Six-and-twenty years of prison; the first seventeen years of it strict and hard, almost of the dungeon sort; the remainder, on his fairly abdicating, was in another Castle, that of Callundborg in the Island of Zealand, 'with fine apartments and conveniences,' and even 'a good bouse of liquor now and then,' at discretion of the old soul.

Verb edit

bouse (third-person singular simple present bouses, present participle bousing, simple past and past participle boused)

  1. (obsolete) To drink immoderately; to carouse; to booze.

Derived terms edit

Anagrams edit

French edit

Etymology edit

From Gaulish or Ancient Ligurian. Cognate with Piedmontese busa, Ligurian bêusa, bûsa, bûsia and Occitan bosa, bosia.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /buz/
  • (file)

Noun edit

bouse f (plural bouses)

  1. cowpat
  2. (heraldry) water-bouget

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit