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penny

1

[ pen-ee ]

noun

plural pennies, pence.
  1. a copper and zinc U.S. coin, worth one 100th of the U.S. dollar; one cent. Previous compositions of U.S. pennies included certain percentages of nickel and steel.
  2. a coin worth one 100th of the dollar of various other nations, although several of these nations, as Australia and New Zealand, no longer use pennies.
  3. Also called new penny. a copper-plated steel, formerly bronze, coin of the United Kingdom, one 100th of a pound. : p
  4. a former bronze coin and monetary unit of the United Kingdom and various other nations, one 12th of a shilling: use phased out in 1971. : d.
  5. a sum of money:

    He spent every penny he ever earned.

  6. the length of a nail in terms of certain standard designations, as eightpenny and sixtypenny.


adjective

  1. Stock Exchange. of, relating to, or being penny stock:

    frenzied speculation in the penny market.

Penny

2

[ pen-ee ]

noun

  1. a female given name, form of Penelope.

penny

/ ˈɛɪ /

noun

  1. Also called (formerly)new penny (in Britain) a bronze coin having a value equal to one hundredth of a pound p
  2. (in Britain before 1971) a bronze or copper coin having a value equal to one twelfth of a shilling or one two-hundred-and-fortieth of a pound d
  3. a former monetary unit of the Republic of Ireland worth one hundredth of a pound
  4. pennies (in the US and Canada) a cent
  5. a coin of similar value, as used in several other countries
  6. informal.
    used with a negative the least amount of money

    I don't have a penny

  7. a bad penny informal.
    an objectionable person or thing (esp in the phrase turn up like a bad penny )
  8. a pretty penny informal.
    a considerable sum of money
  9. spend a penny informal.
    to urinate
  10. the penny dropped informal.
    the explanation of something was finally realized
  11. two a penny
    plentiful but of little value
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other yvlog Forms

  • ·Ծ adjective
  • un··Ծ adjective
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yvlog History and Origins

Origin of penny1

First recorded before 900; Middle English peni, Old English penig, pænig, pen(n)ning, pending, cognate with Old Frisian penning, panning, Old Saxon, Dutch penning, Old High German pfenning, phantinc, phenting ( German Pfennig ), Old Norse penningr (perhaps from Old English ); from unattested West Germanic or Germanic pandingaz, probably equivalent to unattested pand- + unattested -ingaz; -ing 3. The origin of spend a penny is from the former cost of using a public lavatory
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yvlog History and Origins

Origin of penny1

Old English penig, pening; related to Old Saxon penni ( n ) g, Old High German pfeni ( n ) c, German Pfennig
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Idioms and Phrases

  1. a bad penny, someone or something undesirable.
  2. a pretty penny, Informal. a considerable sum of money:

    Their car must have cost them a pretty penny.

  3. spend a penny, Chiefly British Slang. to urinate.
  4. turn an honest penny, to earn one's living honestly; make money by fair means:

    He's never turned an honest penny in his life.

More idioms and phrases containing penny

  • in for a penny, in for a pound
  • pinch pennies
  • pretty penny
  • turn up (like a bad penny)
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

She was the first in her family to go to college, and then law school, borrowing “every penny” for her education, she said.

From

Councillors have added that under other deals offered, no worker needed "to lose a penny".

From

He told us it was something of an arranged marriage, as his mother kept inviting Stella for dinner until eventually the penny dropped that he should take her out.

From

He warms up his audience with a grand promise—“I will not cut one penny from Social Security.”

From

"All agreements on the level of President Trump are only worth a few pennies on market day" the newspaper concluded, while "Moscow is prepared to make a deal with the US president."

From

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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