I. purse 1 S3 /pɜːs $ pɜːrs/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Late Latin ; Origin: bursa ; ⇨ ↑ bursar ]
1 . [countable]
a) especially British English a small bag in which women keep paper money, coins, cards etc SYN wallet American English :
Julie opened her handbag and took out her purse.
b) ( also change purse , coin purse American English ) a small bag used to hold coins, used especially by women
2 . [countable] American English a bag in which a woman carries her money and personal things SYN handbag British English :
I locked the door and dropped the keys in my purse.
3 . [singular] formal the amount of money that a person, organization, or country has available to spend:
Election expenses are met from the public purse (=money controlled by the government) .
A visit to the new county museum will set the family purse back by around £12.
4 . [countable] the amount of money given to someone who wins a sports event, such as a ↑ boxing match or a car race:
They will compete for a $100,000 purse.
5 . the purse strings used to refer to the control of spending in a family, company, country etc
hold/control the purse strings
It all comes down to who holds the purse strings.
She keeps tight control over the purse strings.
II. purse 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
if you purse your lips, you bring them together tightly into a small circle, especially to show disapproval or doubt:
Mrs Biddell pursed her lips and shook her head.