ninepence
Americannoun
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(used with a plural verb) nine pennies.
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a former shilling of Great Britain, issued under Elizabeth I for use in Ireland, debased so that it was used in England as a ninepenny piece.
Etymology
Origin of ninepence
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.
He was like somebody from a John Buchan novel – the second son of Baron Balerno, educated at Glenalmond and Cambridge and commissioned in the Gordon Highlanders – and being as nice as ninepence.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 9, 2010
The room, a salvaged bit of cellar with a 2 by 3 ft. window, was as neat as ninepence.
From Time Magazine Archive
In Hendon, England, after David Lalor bought an old car for ninepence, he cleaned out the interior, found seven-pence-halfpenny.
From Time Magazine Archive
The amount the Chancellor of the Exchequer has to find for payment of the American debt represents ninepence in the pound on the income tax, and will do so for the next 60 years.
From Time Magazine Archive
One could be, clearly, comfortable enough here—if one had the ninepence.
From England by Fox, Frank, Sir
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.
