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• custard-pie
  custard-pie

  adjective

  characteristic of a type of slapstick comedy in which a performer throws a pie in another's face: popular especially in the era of vaudeville and early silent films.
• custard pie
  custard pie

  noun

custard-pie

American  

[kuhs-terd-pahy] / ˈkʌs tərdˈpaɪ /

adjective

1. characteristic of a type of slapstick comedy in which a performer throws a pie in another's face: popular especially in the era of vaudeville and early silent films.

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custard pie British  

noun

1. 1. a flat, open pie filled with real or artificial custard, as thrown in slapstick comedy

   2. ( as modifier )

      custard-pie humour

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Etymology

Origin of custard-pie

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

On the other hand, he has also lost the Elizabethan faculty for fairly plastering his "opponent" with a custard-pie onslaught of laborious, invidious obscenities.

From Time Magazine Archive

The climax of this primitive business is a custard-pie war in a beatnik beer and poetry parlor.

From Time Magazine Archive

Bing sings a few songs; Hope clowns and rolls his eyes at Dotty; the late Robert Benchley breaks in from time to time to put a gloss on the frozen custard-pie humor.

From Time Magazine Archive

They watched beadily as the slim, smiling youth received the first, custard-pie impact of an American welcome.

From Time Magazine Archive

He turned suddenly to me and, in a loud voice, asked: "What was the matter with the custard-pie?"

From My Memories of Eighty Years by Depew, Chauncey M. (Chauncey Mitchell)