feist
feist · feists
A small, snappy, belligerent mixed-breed dogA small, snappy, belligerent mixed-breed dog; a feist dog.
/faɪst/
Meaning
3 senses(US, countable)A small, snappy, belligerent mixed-breed dog; a feist dog.
a nervous belligerent little mongrel dog
(uncountable)Feisty behavior.
(countable, uncountable, vulgar)Silent (but pungent) flatulence.
Origin
Earliest sense is “fart”, and later “stink” as abbreviation for fysting cur “stinking dog”Earliest sense is “fart”, and later “stink” as abbreviation for fysting cur “stinking dog” (1520s). From Middle English fysten (mid-15th century), from Old English. Cognate with Middle Dutch veest and Dutch vijst. Possibly from Proto-Germanic *fistiz (“a fart”), presumably from Proto-Indo-European *pesd-, though this is disputed.
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Forms
plural: feistsSynonyms
2 synonymsSBD
Close in meaning
- a nervous belligerent little mongrel dog:fice
Word family
1 related wordsDerivedfeisty
Lessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable