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.
a layer cake with a filling of custard, cream jelly, or the like.
chocolate cream pie.
a total or whole that can be divided.
They want a bigger part of the profit pie.
an activity or affair.
He has his finger in the political pie too.
pie in the sky,
the illusory prospect of future benefits.
Political promises are often pie in the sky.
a state of perfect happiness; utopia.
to promise pie in the sky.
easy as pie, extremely easy or simple.
nice as pie, extremely well-behaved, agreeable, or the like.
The children were nice as pie.
a baked food consisting of a sweet or savoury filling in a pastry-lined dish, often covered with a pastry crust
to have an interest in or take part in some activity
to meddle or interfere
illusory hope or promise of some future good; false optimism
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English pi(e), pey; of obscure origin
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English pi(e), peie, from Old French, from Latin pīca, akin to pīcus “woodpecker”
First recorded in 1470–80; translation of Latin pīca “magpie”; (the allusion is obscure); cf. pica 1, pie 2
First recorded in 1855–60; from Hindi pāī “quarter, fourth part,” from Sanskrit pādikā; cf. pada ( def. ); see also pice ( def. )
A pie is a baked dessert with a pastry crust. If your favorite kind of pie is apple, you might order it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Most pie is sweet, but there are also meat and vegetable pies, often called "pot pies." Like dessert pies, these savory dishes are often topped with pastry. Other pies have a bottom crust and an open top, while some have both a top and bottom pastry crust. If something is described as "easy as pie," it's very easy — though it's arguable whether it's really all that easy to make a pie.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
We know baking a pie from scratch is a tall order for a weekday, but save this recipe for when you have more time this weekend.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
I got to taste a lot of that humble pie and I got to really learn about myself and I'm still trying to grow, still trying to learn.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Uncle Sam will take his required slice of the pie, regardless.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
While we’re all familiar with certain all-American fare—hot dogs, hamburgers, apple pie, barbecue—there are of course many lesser-known dishes that have come to define the nation and its dining habits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Sookie and Lester finished their burgers in silence, and Sookie ate a piece of apple pie.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
He says the PIE title “Something Wicked from Japan: Ghosts, Demons & Yokai in Ukiyo-e Masterpieces” is among the top all-time Apparition bestsellers.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 22, 2023
It finds no evidence, however, to support claims that the PIE received Home Office funding in the late 1970s.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 25, 2020
Thomas of the Boston Celtics scored 33 points with six assists and five rebounds against the Chicago Bulls in a losing effort, producing a PIE score of 18.6.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 17, 2017
Former child protection officer Peter McKelvie worked on a case involving founding PIE member Peter Righton, an academic who was highly influential in the world of social work and child protection.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2014
The thought of Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia being put in a PIE was more than Penelope could stomach.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
Meanwhile, the southern pied babbler does not, in fact, merely babble.
From Salon ● May 29, 2025
And when she got pied in the face at a press conference in Iowa—her instant response: “At least it’s a fruit pie”—a whole bunch of Americans reveled in her comeuppance.
From Slate ● Jan. 11, 2025
Articulate, charismatic and based in the host city of the next Paralympic Games, Frech has positioned himself to be the pied piper of the Paralympic movement for years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2024
Smith oozes upside, and he’s passionate about the Ducks — a bonus in that he could be a pied piper who attracts other recruits.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2024
She asked him why he needed to know that, and he told her that Doug Swieteck’s brother was in his office at that very moment for having called Mr. Ludema a pied ninny.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
Political pieing, too, had its moment in the sun during the second half of the 20th century.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2024
This idea echoes a term once used to describe pieing: “carnival humor.”
From Slate ● Dec. 31, 2022
The BBB was a big part of this political pieing movement, which began in 1970 and grew to involve activists around the world, until it petered out around 2011.
From Slate ● Dec. 31, 2022
The philosophy was simple: use pieing as a way to hold people that the BBB saws as destructive accountable—and raise awareness of their misdeeds.
From Slate ● Dec. 31, 2022
Thomas hadn't invented pieing, but his contributions to the art were seminal.
From Super Man and the Bug Out by Doctorow, Cory
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.
