piggy bank
Americannoun
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a small bank, having the shape of a pig, provided with a slot at the top to receive small coins.
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any small bank in which coins are kept.
noun
Etymology
Origin of piggy bank
First recorded in 1940–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As oil prices dropped and PdVSA became a piggy bank for Chávez’s pet projects, including the sale of chickens, oil production slumped.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 15, 2026
The county piggy bank is not being raided, although public bonds still represent a subsidy and the assumption of some public risk.
From Slate • Nov. 24, 2025
"Retail is being raided like a piggy bank and it's unacceptable."
From BBC • Feb. 9, 2025
Then she glances up at the piggy bank suspended above her filled with billions in South Korean currency – so much money, and so close!
From Salon • Nov. 28, 2023
My makeshift piggy bank has arrived in the nick of time.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.