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
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
"Real English tomatoes are in such demand that they mostly sell for ninepence the pound, and never less than eight!"
From Time Magazine Archive
One day in 1932, Gladys left Liverpool Street carrying a bedroll, a kettle and saucepan, a suitcase of canned food, ninepence in cash and a thin packet of travelers' checks.
From Time Magazine Archive
My father and mother were Irish, And I am Irish, too: I bought a wee fidil for ninepence, And it is Irish, too.
From The Mountainy Singer by MacCathmhaoil, Seosamh
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.
