From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
fuss
n 1: an excited state of agitation; "he was in a dither"; "there
was a terrible flap about the theft" [syn: dither,
pother, tizzy, flap]
2: an angry disturbance; "he didn't want to make a fuss"; "they
had labor trouble"; "a spot of bother" [syn: trouble,
bother, hassle]
3: a quarrel about petty points [syn: bicker, bickering,
spat, tiff, squabble, pettifoggery]
4: a rapid bustling commotion [syn: bustle, hustle,
flurry, ado, stir]
v 1: worry unnecessarily or excessively; "don't fuss too much
over the grandchildren--they are quite big now" [syn:
niggle, fret]
2: care for like a mother; "She fusses over her husband" [syn:
mother, overprotect]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Fuss \Fuss\ (f[u^]s), n. [Cf. Fusome.]
1. A tumult; a bustle; unnecessary or annoying ado about
trifles. --Byron.
[1913 Webster]
Zealously, assiduously, and with a minimum of fuss
or noise --Carlyle.
[1913 Webster]
2. One who is unduly anxious about trifles; a fussbudget.
[R.]
[1913 Webster]
I am a fuss and I don't deny it. --W. D.
Howell.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Fuss \Fuss\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fussed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Fussing.]
To be overbusy or unduly anxious about trifles; to make a
bustle or ado. --Sir W. Scott.
[1913 Webster]