purse

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
purse/pɜːs/

▶noun

• 1 chiefly Brit. a small pouch of leather or plastic used for carrying money.

• 2 N. Amer. a handbag.

• 3 an amount of money available; funds.

  ■ a sum of money given as a prize in a sporting contest.

▶verb (with reference to the lips) pucker or contract.

– phrases
hold the purse strings have control of expenditure.

– origin OE, alt. of late L. bursa, from Gk bursa ‘leather’.