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Meaning & use

piss

verb, noun, phrase·Everydayvulgarslang

Last updated

UK/pɪs/
US/pɪs/
Usage warning: this word is vulgar. It can hurt or insult people. Learn to recognise it, but avoid using it about anyone.

Meanings

  1. verbintransitivevulgar

    To pass urine from the body, in a very crude way that many people find rude.

    Grammar: Takes no object: he pissed in the bushes.

    Patterns

    • piss on something
    • piss in something

    The dog pissed against the fence.

    Speakers use this word only among close friends, never in polite company.

    A teacher would not accept the word piss in a formal essay.

  2. noununcountablevulgar

    Urine, or an act of passing it, in vulgar speech.

    Grammar: Usually uncountable, but 'a piss' means one act of urinating in British speech.

    Patterns

    • take a piss
    • a smell of piss

    The alley stank of piss.

    He went for a piss before the film started.

    Using piss in a formal report would shock the readers.

  3. phrasephrasal verbvulgarinformal

    Used in rude idioms such as 'piss off' (go away, or annoy) and 'pissed' (angry in American English, drunk in British English).

    Grammar: Piss someone off takes an object: his rudeness pissed me off.

    Patterns

    • piss someone off
    • piss off

    It really pissed me off when he cancelled again.

    She told the loud customers to piss off.

    In the US, pissed usually means angry, but in the UK it often means drunk.

Word forms

third person singularpisses
past tensepissed
past participlepissed
-ing formpissing

Common combinations

piss off
The delays really piss me off.
take the piss
In British English, to take the piss means to mock someone.
piss poor
The service at the café was piss poor.
pissed off
She was pissed off about the late train.
piss about
Stop pissing about and help us carry this.

Synonyms and how they differ

pee
Pee is informal but mild and widely used with children, whereas piss is vulgar and rude.
urinate
Urinate is the neutral, formal, medical-sounding verb and suits any polite setting.
wee
Wee is a gentle, mainly British word often used with children and is not offensive.

Word family

pissed adjective
angry (US) or drunk (UK), both vulgar slang
pissy adjective
irritable or petty, in slang
pisser noun
slang for something annoying, or for a toilet

Commonly confused: piss or pass?

piss vs pass

Learners sometimes try 'pass water' in polite writing, but it is old-fashioned; piss is not a safe substitute in any polite register.

Practice

A nurse is explaining a medical test to a patient. Which word is most suitable for the nurse to use?

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