pie

1
[ pahy ]
See synonyms for pie on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a baked food having a filling of fruit, meat, pudding, etc., prepared in a pastry-lined pan or dish and often topped with a pastry crust: apple pie; meat pie.

  2. a layer cake with a filling of custard, cream jelly, or the like: chocolate cream pie.

  1. a total or whole that can be divided: They want a bigger part of the profit pie.

  2. an activity or affair: He has his finger in the political pie too.

Idioms about pie

  1. easy as pie, extremely easy or simple.

  2. nice as pie, extremely well-behaved, agreeable, or the like: The children were nice as pie.

  1. pie in the sky,

    • the illusory prospect of future benefits: Political promises are often pie in the sky.

    • a state of perfect happiness; utopia: to promise pie in the sky.

Origin of pie

1
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English pi(e), pey; of obscure origin

Other words from pie

  • pielike, adjective

Words Nearby pie

Other definitions for pie (2 of 6)

pie2
[ pahy ]

noun

Origin of pie

2
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English pi(e), peie, from Old French, from Latin pīca, akin to pīcus “woodpecker”

Other definitions for pie (3 of 6)

pie3
[ pahy ]

noun, verb (used with object),pied, pie·ing.
  1. a spelling variant of pi2.

Other definitions for pie (4 of 6)

pie4

or pye

[ pahy ]

noun
  1. (in England before the Reformation) a book of ecclesiastical rules for finding the particulars of the service for the day.

Origin of pie

4
First recorded in 1470–80; translation of Latin pīca “magpie”; (the allusion is obscure); cf. pica1, pie2

Other definitions for pie (5 of 6)

pie5
[ pahy ]

noun
  1. a former bronze coin of India, the 12th part of an anna.

Origin of pie

5
First recorded in 1855–60; from Hindi pāī “quarter, fourth part,” from Sanskrit pādikā; cf. pada; see also pice

Other definitions for PIE (6 of 6)

PIE

abbreviation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pie in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pie (1 of 6)

pie1

/ (paɪ) /


noun
  1. a baked food consisting of a sweet or savoury filling in a pastry-lined dish, often covered with a pastry crust

  2. have a finger in the pie

    • to have an interest in or take part in some activity

    • to meddle or interfere

  1. pie in the sky illusory hope or promise of some future good; false optimism

Origin of pie

1
C14: of obscure origin

British Dictionary definitions for pie (2 of 6)

pie2

/ (paɪ) /


noun
  1. an archaic or dialect name for magpie

Origin of pie

2
C13: via Old French from Latin pīca magpie; related to Latin pīcus woodpecker

British Dictionary definitions for pie (3 of 6)

pie3

/ (paɪ) /


noun, verb
  1. printing a variant spelling of pi 2

British Dictionary definitions for pie (4 of 6)

pie4

/ (paɪ) /


noun
  1. a very small former Indian coin worth one third of a pice

Origin of pie

4
C19: from Hindi pā'ī, from Sanskrit pādikā a fourth

British Dictionary definitions for pie (5 of 6)

pie5

pye

/ (paɪ) /


noun
  1. history a book for finding the Church service for any particular day

Origin of pie

5
C15: from Medieval Latin pica almanac; see pica 1

British Dictionary definitions for pie (6 of 6)

pie6

/ (paɪ) /


adjective
  1. be pie on NZ informal to be keen on

Origin of pie

6
from Māori pai ana

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with pie

pie

In addition to the idiom beginning with pie

  • pie in the sky

also see:

  • apple-pie order
  • easy as pie
  • eat crow (humble pie)
  • finger in the pie
  • slice of the pie

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