BITCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bitch mean? 

• BITCH (noun)
  The noun BITCH has 4 senses:

1. an unpleasant difficulty

2. a person (usually but not necessarily a woman) who is thoroughly disliked

3. informal terms for objecting

4. female of any member of the dog family

  Familiarity information: BITCH used as a noun is uncommon.

• BITCH (verb)
  The verb BITCH has 2 senses:

1. complain

2. say mean things

  Familiarity information: BITCH used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BITCH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An unpleasant difficulty

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

this problem is a real bitch

Hypernyms ("bitch" is a kind of...):

difficulty (a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome)

Domain usage:

argot; cant; jargon; lingo; patois; slang; vernacular (a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves))

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person (usually but not necessarily a woman) who is thoroughly disliked

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

bitch; cunt

Context example:

she said her son thought Hillary was a bitch

Hypernyms ("bitch" is a kind of...):

disagreeable person; unpleasant person (a person who is not pleasant or agreeable)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Informal terms for objecting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

beef; bitch; gripe; kick; squawk

Context example:

I have a gripe about the service here

Hypernyms ("bitch" is a kind of...):

objection (the speech act of objecting)

Derivation:

bitch (say mean things)

bitchy (marked by or arising from malice)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Female of any member of the dog family

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("bitch" is a kind of...):

canid; canine (any of various fissiped mammals with nonretractile claws and typically long muzzles)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bitch"):

brood bitch (a bitch used for breeding)

• BITCH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bitch    ... he / she / it bitches   
Past simple: bitched   
Past participle: bitched   
-ing form: bitching   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Complain

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

beef; bellyache; bitch; crab; gripe; grouse; holler; squawk

Context example:

What was he hollering about?

Hypernyms (to "bitch" is one way to...):

complain; kick; kvetch; plain; quetch; sound off (express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 2

Meaning:

Say mean things

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

backbite; bitch

Hypernyms (to "bitch" is one way to...):

complain; kick; kvetch; plain; quetch; sound off (express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

bitch (informal terms for objecting)

bitchery (aggressive remarks and behavior like that of a spiteful malicious woman)

 Context examples 

But he is a pleasant, good humoured fellow, and has got the nicest little black bitch of a pointer I ever saw.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

She ran out ina road. Son-of-a-bitch didn't even stopus car.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

"It's a bitch," said Tom decisively. "Here's your money. Go and buy ten more dogs with it."

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

"The poor son-of-a-bitch," he said.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)