feist

or fice fist

[ fahyst ]

/ faɪst /

noun

Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. a small mongrel dog, especially one that is ill-tempered; cur; mutt.

verb (used without object)

South Midland U.S. to prance or strut about: Look at him feist around in his new clothes.

Nearby words

Origin of feist

1760–70; compare (from 16th cent.) fisting hound, fisting cur, as contemptuous epithets for any kind of dog (present participle of fist to break wind, late Middle English; compare Old English fisting breaking wind, Middle Low German vīst, German Fist fart); (def 2) perhaps back formation from feisty

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for feist

Feist pauses and smiles, convinced that he has convinced me.
Republicans Battle in Arizona: Why the Debates Matter|Andrew Romano|February 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Before Feist can reply, his political director, Mark Preston, looks up from his BlackBerry.
Republicans Battle in Arizona: Why the Debates Matter|Andrew Romano|February 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Feist is familiar, of course, with the objections that have been leveled against the 2012 debates lately.
Republicans Battle in Arizona: Why the Debates Matter|Andrew Romano|February 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Feist cover “Limit to Your Love” [below] manages to improve on the original, and is one of the best songs of the year.
Best Music Albums of 2011: The Weeknd, Drake, Britney Spears, and More|Marlow Stern|December 31, 2011|DAILY BEAST

Feist compares it with English and considers it a “mixed language” almost from the start, and many facts seem to favor this view.
The New Stone Age in Northern Europe|John M. Tyler
Mon frre Annemond Coct, chevalier, au partir du pays me feist son heritier.
History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, Volume III|J. H. Merle D'Aubign

Word Origin and History for feist

feist

also fist, "a breaking wind, foul smell, fart," mid-15c. (Old English had present participle fisting), a general West Germanic word; cf. Middle Dutch veest, Dutch vijst (see feisty).