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piss

C2
Common

Pronunciation

UK

  • /pˈɪs/

US

  • /ˈpɪs/

Meanings

Verb

  1. in profane usage, to urinate

Noun

  1. a profane term for urine

  2. a profane term for an act of urinating

Beyond the definition

"Piss" most literally means urine, the liquid the body gets rid of. But in everyday speech, it is more often used as a rude word in a few common ways. It can mean making someone very angry or annoyed ("He really pisses me off!"). It can also mean wasting time ("Stop pissing around") or wasting something valuable ("He pissed away his inheritance"). In British English, it can also appear in phrases about mocking someone, and "pissed" often means "drunk." This is a vulgar word, so it can sound offensive in polite or professional settings.

Examples

  1. 1

    Informal urination

    I need to piss before we leave.

    • Caution

      piss is very informal; use pee in polite conversation

  2. 2

    Urine noun

    The alley smelled of piss after the festival.

  3. 3

    Animal accident

    The cat pissed on the sofa again.

  4. 4

    Anger trigger

    The delay really pissed me off.

    • Patternpiss someone off

      make someone angry

More examples
  1. 5

    Angry feeling

    She was still pissed off about the way they treated her.

    • Phrasepissed off

      angry or annoyed

  2. 6

    American English

    In the U.S., “I’m pissed” usually means “I’m angry.”

    • Usagepissed

      angry in American English

  3. 7

    British English

    In the U.K., “He got pissed last night” usually means he got drunk.

    • Usagepissed

      drunk in British English

  4. 8

    Wasting time

    Stop pissing about and help me move this table.

    • Usagepiss about

      waste time instead of doing something useful; mainly British

  5. 9

    Careless waste

    He pissed away all his savings on gambling.

    • Patternpiss away + money/time/resources

      waste them carelessly

  6. 10

    Rude joking

    Are you taking the piss, or are you serious?

    • Cautiontake the piss

      joke about someone or something, often rudely; mainly British

See also

Similar

Shades of meaning

  • relieve oneself
  • wet oneself

Contrast

Used with (collocations)

  • take a piss
  • need to piss
  • piss on something

Word family

Explore

Forms and spellings

4 forms open this card.

Main spelling

  • pissverbnoun

Forms

  • pissedpast tenseverbnoun
  • pissing-ing formverbnoun
  • pissesverbnoun