purse - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

Though purses are mostly carried by women, this is the kind of purse anyone would love to bring home: it's a prize, usually consisting of money.

The most common meaning of purse, as a woman's bag, can definitely help you remember the "prize" meaning of purse, because a woman who won a purse could carry her winnings in a purse. The non-bag type of purse is usually associated with sporting events: boxers and jockeys win purses. Other times, purse is used to describe money won in another context, like a photography contest. Another meaning is totally different: if you pucker or contract your lips, you're pursing them.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: purse

1	n	a container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women)
2	v	contract one's lips into a rounded shape

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: purse

1

n a container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women)

Synonyms:: bag, handbag, pocketbook

Types:: show 5 types...; hide 5 types...; clutch, clutch bag
a woman's strapless purse that is carried in the hand; etui
small ornamental ladies' bag for small articles; evening bag
a handbag used with evening wear; reticule
a woman's drawstring handbag; usually made of net or beading or brocade; used in 18th and 19th centuries; shoulder bag
a large handbag that can be carried by a strap looped over the shoulder

Type of:: container
any object that can be used to hold things (especially a large metal boxlike object of standardized dimensions that can be loaded from one form of transport to another)

n a small bag for carrying money

Type of:: bag
a flexible container with a single opening

n a sum of money spoken of as the contents of a money purse

“he made the contribution out of his own purse”

“he and his wife shared a common purse”

Type of:: amount, amount of money, sum, sum of money
a quantity of money

n a sum of money offered as a prize

“the purse barely covered the winner's expenses”

Type of:: amount, amount of money, sum, sum of money
a quantity of money

2

v contract one's lips into a rounded shape

Types:: pooch, pooch out
round one's lips as if intending to kiss

Type of:: round, round off, round out
make round

v gather or contract into wrinkles or folds; pucker

“purse ones's lips”

Synonyms:: wrinkle

Type of:: contract
make smaller