Penny
['penɪ] or ['pɛni]
Definition
(noun.) a coin worth one-hundredth of the value of the basic unit.
(noun.) a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound.
Typist: Merritt--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Denoting pound weight for one thousand; -- used in combination, with respect to nails; as, tenpenny nails, nails of which one thousand weight ten pounds.
(n.) An English coin, formerly of copper, now of bronze, the twelfth part of an English shilling in account value, and equal to four farthings, or about two cents; -- usually indicated by the abbreviation d. (the initial of denarius).
(n.) Any small sum or coin; a groat; a stiver.
(n.) Money, in general; as, to turn an honest penny.
(n.) See Denarius.
(a.) Worth or costing one penny.
Edited by Ervin
Definition
n. a copper coin (bronze since 1860) originally silver=1⁄12 of a shilling or four farthings: a small sum: money in general: (N.T.) a silver coin=7çµ?: pound in fourpenny sixpenny tenpenny nails=four six ten pound weight to the thousand:—pl. Pennies (pen′iz) denoting the number of coins; Pence (pens) the amount of pennies in value.—adjs. Penn′ied possessed of a penny; Penn′iless without a penny: without money: poor.—ns. Penn′ilessness; Penn′y-a-lin′er one who writes for a public journal at so much a line: a writer for pay; Penn′y-a-lin′erism hack-writing; Penn′y-dog the tope or miller's dog a kind of shark; Penn′y-post a means of carrying a letter for a penny; Penn′y-rent income; Penn′yweight twenty-four grains of troy weight (the weight of a silver penny); Penn′y-wis′dom prudence in petty matters.—adj. Penn′y-wise saving small sums at the risk of larger: niggardly on improper occasions.—ns. Penn′y-worth a penny's worth of anything: the amount that can be given for a penny: a good bargain—also Penn′'orth (coll.); Pē′ter's-pence the name given to an old tribute offered to the Roman Pontiff now a voluntary contribution.—Penny fee (Scot.) a small wage; Penny gaff (slang) a low-class theatre; Penny mail (Scot.) rent in money not in kind: a small sum paid to the superior of land; Penny wedding a wedding ceremonial in Scotland at which the invited guests made contributions in money to pay the general expenses.—A pretty penny a considerable sum of money; Turn an honest penny to earn money honestly.
Typist: Theodore
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of pennies, denotes unsatisfactory pursuits. Business will suffer, and lovers and friends will complain of the smallness of affection. To lose them, signifies small deference and failures. To find them, denotes that prospects will advance to your improvement. To count pennies, foretells that you will be business-like and economical.
Typist: Rex
Examples
- My own family drains me to the last penny. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- He had a penny too--a gift of Sowerberry's after some funeral in which he had acquitted himself more than ordinarily well--in his pocket. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- It has fetched a penny. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- My opinion is she won't stand anything, so here's a penny for you. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- How to turn a penny. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- There wasn't a penny to choose between 'em. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- With all these virtues, one penny a square! Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- It was Bartlemy time when I was shopped; and there warn't a penny trumpet in the fair, as I couldn't hear the squeaking on. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- As things go over there, Olenski's acted generously: he might have turned her out without a penny. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- The organ-grinder piteously put in his claim to a penny from the benevolent stranger. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- Every pocket stuffed with pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- The Portuguese pennies, or reis (pronounced rays), are prodigious. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- It cost eighteen-pence. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Not five shillings, sir; nor five pence. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- These were about eighteen pence or twenty pence a-day before the tax, and they are not more now. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Two half-pence is all the same, and four farthings is received with joy. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- Yes, he's a havin' two mile o' danger at eight-pence,' responded the son. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Mrs. Chadband merely laughs and contemptuously tells him he can offer twenty pence. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- This whim suited me the better at this time, from the cheapness of it, not costing us above eighteen pence sterling each per week. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- But I love children, and Four-pence a week is Four-pence. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- The highest class pay a hundred florins a year, which, at two-and-twenty pence half penny a-florin, amounts to ?9:7:6. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Anybody could have bread for asking, and a loaf cost only three-ha'pence. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
Editor: Stanton