FUSS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does fuss mean? 

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

1. an excited state of agitation

2. an angry disturbance

3. a quarrel about petty points

4. a rapid active commotion

  Familiarity information: FUSS used as a noun is uncommon.

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

1. worry unnecessarily or excessively

2. care for like a mother

  Familiarity information: FUSS used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FUSS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An excited state of agitation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

dither; flap; fuss; pother; tizzy

Context example:

there was a terrible flap about the theft

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

agitation (a mental state of extreme emotional disturbance)

Derivation:

fuss (worry unnecessarily or excessively)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An angry disturbance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

bother; fuss; hassle; trouble

Context example:

a spot of bother

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

disturbance; perturbation (activity that is a malfunction, intrusion, or interruption)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A quarrel about petty points

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

bicker; bickering; fuss; pettifoggery; spat; squabble; tiff

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

dustup; quarrel; row; run-in; words; wrangle (an angry dispute)

Derivation:

fussy (exacting especially about details)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A rapid active commotion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

ado; bustle; flurry; fuss; hustle; stir

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

commotion; din; ruckus; ruction; rumpus; tumult (the act of making a noisy disturbance)

Derivation:

fuss (care for like a mother)

• FUSS (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they fuss    ... he / she / it fusses   
Past simple: fussed   
Past participle: fussed   
-ing form: fussing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Worry unnecessarily or excessively

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

fret; fuss; niggle

Context example:

don't fuss too much over the grandchildren--they are quite big now

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

worry (be worried, concerned, anxious, troubled, or uneasy)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fuss"):

scruple (raise scruples)

dither; flap; pother (make a fuss; be agitated)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue fuss over the results of the experiment

Derivation:

fuss (an excited state of agitation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Care for like a mother

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

fuss; mother; overprotect

Context example:

She fusses over her husband

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

care; give care (provide care for)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

fuss (a rapid active commotion)

 Context examples 

Well, Monday morning came, and I was in such a fuss!

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

I've been fussing over the thing so long, I really don't know whether it's good, bad, or indifferent.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

One would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the fuss that is made over them.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When I got to Mr. Palmer's, I found Charlotte quite in a fuss about the child.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

He fusses about things with which he has no concern, and he neglects every obvious duty.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Ah, Holmes,” he said: “I suppose you have heard that all this fuss has come to nothing?”

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Buck confidently selected a spot, and with much fuss and waste effort proceeded to dig a hole for himself.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Aye, I remember, so it was; I was thinking of that other stupid book, written by that woman they make such a fuss about, she who married the French emigrant.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

We had not sat here many minutes, when Mrs. Markleham, who usually contrived to be in a fuss about something, came bustling in, with her newspaper in her hand, and said, out of breath, My goodness gracious, Annie, why didn't you tell me there was someone in the Study!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I looked upon him as the sort of person to be made a fuss with, and to make a fuss himself in any trifling disorder, and was chiefly concerned for those who had to nurse him; but now it is confidently asserted that he is really in a decline, that the symptoms are most alarming, and that part of the family, at least, are aware of it.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)