Unpursing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of loosening or opening lips that were previously pursed, often to change an expression or prepare to speak
2. Releasing tension in the lips by moving them apart after being tightly pressed together
3. The process of undoing a pucker or tight pressing of the lips to achieve a more neutral or open mouth shape

Etymology: "Unpursing" is the present participle and gerund of "unpurse," a verb formed from the prefix "un-" and "purse." The "purse" here is the old sense of the word for the mouth or lips, the same muscular puckering we still describe when someone "purses their lips." Unpursing is therefore simply the reverse of that gesture: the lips relaxing back out of a tight, rounded shape. The base verb "purse" itself came from the noun "purse" (a small bag for money), because a drawstring purse closes by being gathered together, and the image of gathering or drawing together was extended to the mouth. The prefix "un-" is an ordinary English reversing element, attached here to a verb that describes drawing together, so "unpurse" means to undo that drawing together.