penny

¹ American  

[pen-ee] / ˈpɛn i /

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.

idioms

1. spend a penny, to urinate.

2. 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.

3. a pretty penny, a considerable sum of money.

   Their car must have cost them a pretty penny.

4. a bad penny, someone or something undesirable.

Penny ² American  

[pen-ee] / ˈpɛn i /

noun

1. a female given name, form of Penelope.

---

penny British  

/ ˈpɛnɪ /

noun

1. Also called (formerly): new penny.   p.  (in Britain) a bronze coin having a value equal to one hundredth of a pound

2.  d.  (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

3. a former monetary unit of the Republic of Ireland worth one hundredth of a pound

4. (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. informal an objectionable person or thing (esp in the phrase turn up like a bad penny )

8. informal a considerable sum of money

9. informal to urinate

10. informal the explanation of something was finally realized

11. plentiful but of little value

---

penny More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing penny

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

---

Other Word Forms

• pennied adjective
• unpennied adjective

Etymology

Origin of penny

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

Example Sentences

"Yet everybody just makes pennies on the pound."

From Barron's

Millar said his "raft of credible and fully costed positive policies" for Wales included cutting income tax by a penny in the pound, and cutting waiting lists in the NHS by declaring a health emergency.

From BBC

Popcorn remains one of the most profitable consumer products; kernels cost pennies per serving, store well, generate little waste and require minimal labor.

From The Wall Street Journal

“A hundred dollars a week. That’s pennies for someone like you, right?”

From Literature

“You know, our food is worth, in my mind, every penny we ask someone to pay for it,” Boatwright said.

From MarketWatch