arse

An expression of frustration.

Interjection

  1. An expression of frustration.
    • (euphemistic)

    Synonyms: bum

Origin

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”).

Forms

ass

Noun

  1. 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. - 2011 March 12, James Smart, The Guardian:
    • No one, then or now, wanted to drink the mead that came out of Odin's arse. - 2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 131:
    • 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...

    Synonyms: 'tocks arse arse cheeks ass ass cheeks back backside batty behind blessed assurance booty botty bottom bum bum cheeks buns butt butt cheeks buttocks caboose cheeks derriere dicky fanny

  2. 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.” - 2007, Martin Harrison, The Judgement of...
    • 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,...
    • Felnigg. What a suppurating arse. Look at him. Arse. - 2011, Joe Abercrombie, The Heroes, unnumbered page:
  3. Used in similes to express something bad or unpleasant.
  4. 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.

Forms

arses ass

Derived

arse about face arse about tit arse antlers arse bandit arse biscuit arse breath arsebreath arsecheek arsecheeks arse cheeks arseclown arse-clown arse-crack arse crack arsecunt arse end arse end of nowhere arseface arse-fuck arsefucker arseful arsehat arsehead arsehole

Verb

  1. 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[…]. - 1985, Sam McAughtry, McAughtry's War, page 10:
    • Pi, upset, roars, "Quit arsing around there and get cracking," and a dozen heads turn their way. - 2005, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, page 291:

Forms

arses arsing arsed ass

Derived

arse about arse around arse up candy-arsed can't be arsed half-arsed