bitch

English Online Dictionary. What means bitch‎? What does bitch mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English biche, bicche, from Old English biċċe, from Proto-West Germanic *bikkjā, from Proto-Germanic *bikjǭ (compare Norwegian bikkje (“dog”), Old Danish bikke), from *bikjaną (“to thrust, attack”) (compare Old Norse bikkja (“plunge into water”), Dutch bikken (“to hack”)). More at bicker.

Pronunciation

• enPR: bĭch, IPA^(key): /bɪt͡ʃ/
• (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this pronunciation?) (Slang) IPA^(key): /bɪt͡s/
• Rhymes: -ɪtʃ

Noun

bitch (countable and uncountable, plural bitches)

1. (dated or specialised, dog-breeding) A female dog or other canine, particularly a recent mother.
2. (archaic, offensive) A promiscuous woman, slut, whore.
3. (vulgar, offensive) A despicable or disagreeable, aggressive person, usually a woman. [from 15th c.]
4. (vulgar, offensive) A woman.
5. (vulgar, offensive) A man considered weak, effeminate, timid or pathetic in some way
   1. (LGBT, slang, derogatory) An obviously gay man.
6. (vulgar, offensive) A submissive person who does what others want; (prison slang) a man forced or coerced into a homoerotic relationship. [from the 20th c]
   • 1999 September 23, Chris Sheridan, “This House Is Freakin’ Sweet”, “Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater”, Family Guy, season 2, episode 1, Fox Broadcasting Company

     Now that you're stinking rich, we'd gladly be your bitch.

7. (obsolete, informal, of a man) A playful variation on dog (sense "man"). [from the 16th c]
8. (humorous, vulgar, colloquial, used with a possessive pronoun) Friend. [from the 20th c]

9. (vulgar, colloquial) A complaint, especially when the complaint is unjustified.
10. (colloquial, vulgar) A difficult or confounding problem.

11. (colloquial, vulgar, card games) A queen playing card, particularly the queen of spades in the card game of hearts.

    Coordinate term: butcher

12. (vulgar, figurative) Something unforgiving and unpleasant.

13. (vulgar, informal, slang) Place; situation

14. (UK, obsolete, university slang) Tea (the drink).
15. (chess, slang, vulgar, offensive) A queen.

Usage notes

• While bitch’s original canine sense permits it to be used in most media, it remains offensive enough that, in the US, it is often minced (as b, b-word, or female dog) in formal contexts.

Alternative forms

(offensive senses):

• biatch/biotch; beatch/beotch
• bih
• binch
• bish
• biyatch/biyotch; beeyatch/beeyotch
• bizatch/biz-atch/biznatch

Euphemisms:

• b-word
• rhymes-with-rich

Synonyms

• (female dog, etc): doggess (rare), female (when the species is specified or implied), she-dog
• (malicious, etc, woman): See Thesaurus:shrew or Thesaurus:jerk
• (malicious, etc, man): See Thesaurus:bastard or Thesaurus:jerk
• (jocular slang, one's friend): See Thesaurus:friend
• (person in a relationship who is made to adopt a submissive role): doormat, slave
• (man forced into a homoerotic relationship in prison): punk, gunsel
• (a complaint): gripe, grumble, kvetch, moan, whinge
• (difficult or confounding problem): toughie, stinker, pain in the ass

Hyponyms

Female canine

• brach, a female hound
• she-wolf
• vixen, a female fox

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Dutch: bitch
• →? German: Betze, Bätze, Petze
• → French: bitch

Translations

References

• Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. →ISBN

Verb

bitch (third-person singular simple present bitches, present participle bitching, simple past and past participle bitched)

1. (vulgar, intransitive) To behave or act as a bitch.
2. (vulgar, intransitive) To criticize spitefully, often for the sake of complaining rather than in order to have the problem corrected.
3. (vulgar, transitive) To spoil, to ruin.

Synonyms

• (make derogatory comments): badmouth, slag off (UK), snipe
• (complain spitefully): See Thesaurus:complain

Derived terms

• bitch and moan
• stitch and bitch

Translations

References

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English bitch, from Middle English biche, bicche, from Old English biċċe, from Proto-Germanic *bikjǭ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪtʃ/
• Hyphenation: bitch

Noun

bitch f (plural bitches, diminutive bitchje n)

1. (derogatory) bitch (somewhat general term of abuse for a woman; disagreeable, assertive, aggressive or malicious woman)

   Synonyms: teef, trut, kreng

2. (derogatory) bitch (person in a submissive or low-placed position)

Related terms

• bitchen

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English bitch, from Middle English biche, bicche, from Old English biċċe, from Proto-Germanic *bikjǭ. Doublet of bichon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bitʃ/

Noun

bitch f (plural bitchs)

1. bitch (disagreeable, despicable woman)