bad cess
Bad luck, failure, or evil befallingBad luck, failure, or evil befalling.
Meaning
1 senses(Ireland, UK, uncountable)Bad luck, failure, or evil befalling.
Origin
Uncertain. Occurs in print at least as early as 1831, when Samuel Lover used the expressioUncertain. Occurs in print at least as early as 1831, when Samuel Lover used the expression as one already long-established. He unambiguously stated the derivation of cess in the malediction bad cess to be an abbreviation of success. OED speculated that it either was from success or from assessment meaning a military or governmental exaction.
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Lessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable