Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—P

Pursy, Pursiness

Broken-winded, or in a bloated state in which the wind is short and difficult. (French, poussi-f, same meaning.)

A fat and pursy man.
Shakespeare has “pursy Insolence,” the insolence of Jesurun, “who waxed fat and kicked.” In Hamlet we have “the fatness of these pursy times” —i.e. wanton or self-indulgent times.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Pururavas and Urvasi
Purpure
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