pie

¹ American  

[pahy] / paɪ /

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.

3. a total or whole that can be divided.

   They want a bigger part of the profit pie.

4. an activity or affair.

   He has his finger in the political pie too.

5. pizza.

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idioms

1. pie in the sky,

   1. the illusory prospect of future benefits.

      Political promises are often pie in the sky.

   2. a state of perfect happiness; utopia.

      to promise pie in the sky.

2. easy as pie, extremely easy or simple.

3. nice as pie, extremely well-behaved, agreeable, or the like.

   The children were nice as pie.

pie ² American  

[pahy] / paɪ /

noun

1. magpie.

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pie ³ American  

[pahy] / paɪ /

noun

pied, pieing

1. a spelling variant of pi.

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pie ⁴ American  

[pahy] / paɪ /

Or pye

noun

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

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pie ⁵ American  

[pahy] / paɪ /

noun

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

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PIE ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. Proto-Indo-European.

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pie ¹ British  

/ 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. 1. to have an interest in or take part in some activity

   2. to meddle or interfere

3. illusory hope or promise of some future good; false optimism

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pie ² British  

/ paɪ /

noun

1. an archaic or dialect name for magpie

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pie ³ British  

/ paɪ /

noun

1. printing a variant spelling of pi 2

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pie ⁴ British  

/ paɪ /

noun

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

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pie ⁵ British  

/ paɪ /

noun

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

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pie ⁶ British  

/ paɪ /

adjective

1. informal to be keen on

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pie More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing pie

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

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Other Word Forms

• pielike adjective

Etymology

Origin of pie¹

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

Origin of pie²

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

Origin of pie⁴

First recorded in 1470–80; translation of Latin pīca “magpie”; (the allusion is obscure); pica ¹, pie ²

Origin of pie⁵

First recorded in 1855–60; from Hindi pāī “quarter, fourth part,” from Sanskrit pādikā; pada ( def. ); pice ( def. )

Example Sentences

“Sports will be a small piece of the pie very soon,” she said.

From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026

Miraculously, the line of people that usually snakes down Melrose yearning for a slice of chef Karla Subero Pittol’s passion lime fruit icebox pie is nonexistent today.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026

De Boer focuses on the kind of fare a traveler craves when coming in from the cold: venison and Sherry pie, spit-roasted duck, cups of warming bone broth.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

Folded into shepherd’s pie under a blanket of mashed potatoes.

From Salon • Feb. 18, 2026

Then he pours it out in two mugs and serves us each a piece of the blackberry pie Gloria brought after the funeral.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish

Related Words

• cake
• candy
• confection
• cookie
• fruit
• ice cream
• pastry
• sweet