E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Pursy, Pursiness.
Broken-winded, or in a bloated state in which the wind is short and difficult. (French, poussi-f, same meaning.)
1
A fat and pursy man. Shakespeare has “pursy Insolence,” the insolence of Jesurun, “who waxed fat and kicked.” In Hamlet we have “the fatness of these pursy times”—i.e. wanton or self-indulgent times.
