halfpennyworth
Britishnoun
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an amount that may be bought for a halfpenny
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a trifling or very small amount
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.
Has anyone thrown away a halfpennyworth of sympathy upon any person mentioned in this history?
From Catherine: a Story by Thackeray, William Makepeace
Don't lose a sheep for a halfpennyworth of tar: tar is used to mark sheep.
From 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Grose, Francis
This is the man that is penny-wise, and pound- foolish; this is he that loseth his good Sheep for a halfpennyworth of tarr; that loseth a soul for a little of the world.
From Life and Death of Mr. Badman by Bunyan, John
Ibsen sets himself to discover the halfpennyworth of significance in all this intolerable deal of irrelevance.
From Pot-Boilers by Bell, Clive
I never professed to have a halfpennyworth of pity at that gentleman's command.
From The Newcomes Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family by Thackeray, William Makepeace
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.
