A-Z Database
Referring to a small, storage compartment in a desk or cabinet, it dates from the late 18th century from the obvious allusion to the holes made for pi...
A piggy bank is a pig-shaped, metal, ceramic, or plastic container with a slit in the back, in which coins can be saved. Piggy banks were first attest...
Piggyback is a corruption of the earlier expression ‘pick-a-back’, which means to carry someone or something on one’s back. Therefore, it really has n...
The literal meaning of pigs in a blanket is the name for hot dogs, or small pork sausages, wrapped in pastry. It was and still is a popular American s...
see From pillar to post
British informal expression for a stupid person, dates from the 16th century derives from ‘pillicock’ an archaic word for penis.
Taking what people say with a pinch or grain of salt implies that they exaggerating or lying and the allusion is that a pinch or grain of salt will ma...
Sometimes spelt pinky is originally Scottish dialect for the little finger, dating from the late 18th/early 19th century. It comes from the Old Dutch...
The verb to pink meaning to stab, pierce or prick dates from the 14th century and comes from the Latin pungere meaning the same thing. Hence, pinking...
Pinko is slang for someone with socialist or left wing views but not red enough to be called a Communist. The word dates from the 1930s.
The pip of a fruit, as in orange or apple pip, is an abbreviation of the 14th century word pippin. According to the OED, the abbreviation is first cit...
A salutary British greeting dates from the very early 20th century and can mean hello or goodbye depending on the context. There are two theories abou...
A request or order to be quiet dates from the mid-19th century and derives from the earlier naval custom of using shrill pipes to dismiss sailors belo...
A pipe dream is an unattainable hope or fantasy and is first cited in America from the late 19th century. The allusion is to the delusions or euphoria...
Very hot, usually describes food, dates from at least the 14th century when Chaucer used the phrase piping hot to describe waffles taken straight from...