pie

¹ American  

[pahy] / paɪ /

noun

1. a baked food having a filling of fruit, meat, pudding, etc., prepared in a pastry-lined pan or dish and often topped with a pastry crust.

   apple pie; meat pie.

2. a layer cake with a filling of custard, cream jelly, or the like.

   chocolate cream pie.

3. a total or whole that can be divided.

   They want a bigger part of the profit pie.

4. an activity or affair.

   He has his finger in the political pie too.

5. pizza.

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idioms

1. pie in the sky,

   1. the illusory prospect of future benefits.

      Political promises are often pie in the sky.

   2. a state of perfect happiness; utopia.

      to promise pie in the sky.

2. easy as pie, extremely easy or simple.

3. nice as pie, extremely well-behaved, agreeable, or the like.

   The children were nice as pie.

pie ² American  

[pahy] / paɪ /

noun

1. magpie.

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pie ³ American  

[pahy] / paɪ /

noun

pied, pieing

1. a spelling variant of pi.

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pie ⁴ American  

[pahy] / paɪ /

Or pye

noun

1. (in England before the Reformation) a book of ecclesiastical rules for finding the particulars of the service for the day.

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pie ⁵ American  

[pahy] / paɪ /

noun

1. a former bronze coin of India, the 12th part of an anna.

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PIE ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. Proto-Indo-European.

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pie ¹ British  

/ paɪ /

noun

1. a baked food consisting of a sweet or savoury filling in a pastry-lined dish, often covered with a pastry crust

2. 1. to have an interest in or take part in some activity

   2. to meddle or interfere

3. illusory hope or promise of some future good; false optimism

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pie ² British  

/ paɪ /

noun

1. an archaic or dialect name for magpie

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pie ³ British  

/ paɪ /

noun

1. printing a variant spelling of pi 2

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pie ⁴ British  

/ paɪ /

noun

1. a very small former Indian coin worth one third of a pice

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pie ⁵ British  

/ paɪ /

noun

1. history a book for finding the Church service for any particular day

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pie ⁶ British  

/ paɪ /

adjective

1. informal to be keen on

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pie More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing pie

• apple-pie order
• easy as pie
• eat crow (humble pie)
• finger in the pie
• slice of the pie

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Other Word Forms

• pielike adjective

Etymology

Origin of pie¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English pi(e), pey; of obscure origin

Origin of pie²

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English pi(e), peie, from Old French, from Latin pīca, akin to pīcus “woodpecker”

Origin of pie⁴

First recorded in 1470–80; translation of Latin pīca “magpie”; (the allusion is obscure); pica ¹, pie ²

Origin of pie⁵

First recorded in 1855–60; from Hindi pāī “quarter, fourth part,” from Sanskrit pādikā; pada ( def. ); pice ( def. )

Example Sentences

To make the pot pie, start by cooking together carrots, onion, celery and chicken.

From Salon

"We bring in a few mince pies, the site offices might have a bit of tinsel around," he says.

From BBC

The vegetable mélange of childhood pot pies and plastic school cafeteria trays.

From Salon

It's been around since time began, as normal now as pre-match pints and half-time pies.

From BBC

The NFL scored its highest-rated regular season in 36 years in 2025, and live sports remain the biggest draws for network TV — though streaming services are trying to get a piece of that pie.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• cake
• candy
• confection
• cookie
• fruit
• ice cream
• pastry
• sweet