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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

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

custard-pie custard pie

A 2002 hit on the French presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Chevenement -- with a pineapple-flavoured missile at the Paris book fair -- would lead custard-pie throwing to be ruled a criminal offence.

From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026

She has one foot on the dashboard, and bubble-gum bubbles are popping out of her funny little rosebud mouth, right there in the middle of her funny big custard-pie face.

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

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

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 Chauncey M. (Chauncey Mitchell) Depew

And this episode in the three-part Vice sports series “Out of Bounds” will likely have the effect of a figurative custard pie in the face of the heavily armed and coercive DraftKings-FanDuel-powered juggernaut.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026

"I want to demonstrate that I can make serious points by flinging a custard pie around the stage for a couple of hours," the Czech-born Stoppard said in a 1970s interview.

From Barron's ● Nov. 29, 2025

“I filled in those holes through volunteering, through being an actor, through golf, bridge,” he said over a lunch of meatloaf and custard pie.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2025

When speaking at the Cambridge Union in 1958, he was hit in the face with a custard pie.

From Salon ● Mar. 30, 2023

And of course, Minny’s pie. .. and the winner of Minny Jackson’s world-famous chocolate custard pie is...

From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

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