penny
noun
a copper and zinc U.S. coin, worth one 100th of the U.S. dollar; one cent. Previous compositions of U.S. pennies included certain percentages of nickel and steel.
penny
1 American
[pen-ee]
/ ˈpɛn i /
noun
-
pennies,
plural
-
pence
plural
-
a copper and zinc U.S. coin, worth one 100th of the U.S. dollar; one cent. Previous compositions of U.S. pennies included certain percentages of nickel and steel.
-
a coin worth one 100th of the dollar of various other nations, although several of these nations, as Australia and New Zealand, no longer use pennies.
-
Also called new penny. a copper-plated steel, formerly bronze, coin of the United Kingdom, one 100th of a pound. p
-
a former bronze coin and monetary unit of the United Kingdom and various other nations, one 12th of a shilling: use phased out in 1971. d.
-
a sum of money.
He spent every penny he ever earned.
-
the length of a nail in terms of certain standard designations, as eightpenny and sixtypenny.
adjective
idioms
-
spend a penny, to urinate.
-
turn an honest penny, to earn one's living honestly; make money by fair means.
He's never turned an honest penny in his life.
-
a pretty penny, a considerable sum of money.
Their car must have cost them a pretty penny.
-
a bad penny, someone or something undesirable.
Penny
2
American
[pen-ee]
/ ˈpɛn i /
noun
penny
British
/ ˈpɛnɪ /
noun
-
Also called (formerly): new penny, p. (in Britain) a bronze coin having a value equal to one hundredth of a pound
-
d. (in Britain before 1971) a bronze or copper coin having a value equal to one twelfth of a shilling or one two-hundred-and-fortieth of a pound
-
a former monetary unit of the Republic of Ireland worth one hundredth of a pound
-
(in the US and Canada) a cent
-
a coin of similar value, as used in several other countries
-
informal (used with a negative) the least amount of money
I don't have a penny
-
informal an objectionable person or thing (esp in the phrase turn up like a bad penny )
-
informal a considerable sum of money
-
informal to urinate
-
informal the explanation of something was finally realized
-
plentiful but of little value
penny
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of penny
First recorded before 900; Middle English peni, Old English penig, pænig, pen(n)ning, pending, cognate with Old Frisian penning, panning, Old Saxon, Dutch penning, Old High German pfenning, phantinc, phenting ( German Pfennig ), Old Norse penningr (perhaps from Old English ); from unattested West Germanic or Germanic pandingaz, probably equivalent to unattested pand- + unattested -ingaz; see -ing 3. The origin of spend a penny is from the former cost of using a public lavatory
Explanation
It takes a hundred pennies to make a dollar. Even though it doesn't have a heck of a lot of value, a penny may bring you luck if you pick it up (as the saying goes). In the US, a penny is a one-cent, copper-colored coin, which features Abraham Lincoln's profile on one side. Many countries' currencies include pennies as the very smallest unit of money, including Canada, Britain, and South Africa. While the plural form of penny is pence in the UK, and it's often abbreviated as p there, in North America the plural is commonly pennies — and sometimes cents.
Vocabulary lists containing penny
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.
See Examples For:
Yeah, you talked about your grandfather being like, “I was so proud I never took a penny from the government.”
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
Lowe says Musk has never given him a penny.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Killing the penny saves about $56 million a year.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
The penny did not die of natural causes.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
Then he was outside, running down the street, away from his rolls, and his bread, and his penny buns.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
"It's been so lovely watching Penny grow, seeing how they navigate everything and all the things they've done," neonatal nurse Teri added.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
"We are so proud of Penny but we're also proud of Bella. When we talk about her, we say her name with pride," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
In the time since then, Bella's twin sister, Penny, who was born healthily, has just celebrated her second birthday.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
“Increased mining rates at Break of Day following the Stage 2 cutback, along with mine life extensions at Penny, should drive higher head grades through FY27 and FY28,” says the broker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Our father offered comfort with his standard noncommittal phrases, reminding Penny that there were two sides to every coin and that it's always darkest before the dawn.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
The 15% upper range of this implies around 88.9 pence, which is 3% above consensus expectations, they write.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Iron foundries company Vesuvius said it received an offer approach worth 549 pence a share on Aug. 27 that the board was considering.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
The stock is trading at a lowly multiple, Berenberg says, as it increases its target price to 390 pence from 360 pence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
RBC has an outperform rating on the stock and a 660 pence price target.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Wang Lung had not thought to complain for he had not seen this coin before, and he did not know for how many pence it could be changed.
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
Stock your employer put in 25 years ago may have cost pennies against today’s price.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
Shareholders received nothing in the bankruptcy, and some bondholders recovered just pennies on the dollar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Under Musk, X has transformed into a haven of bots looking to start fights for pennies.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
"There are so many people struggling to get by. Some months, we are really scraping the pennies and it can be difficult."
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
In the end, the only way in which he managed to earn a few pennies was by shoveling snow in the streets.
From "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl
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.
