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Showing results for pied-à-terre.
Synonyms

pied-à-terre

American  
[pee-ey-duh-tair, -dah-, pyey-] / piˌeɪ dəˈtɛər, -dɑ-, ˌpyeɪ- /

noun

plural

pieds-à-terre

  1. a residence, as an apartment, for part-time or temporary use.

pied-à-terre British  
/ ˌpjeɪtɑːˈtɛə /

noun

  1. a flat, house, or other lodging for secondary or occasional use

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of pied-à-terre

1820–30; < French: literally, foot on ground

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.

Projection designers Yee Eun Nam and Elizabeth Barrett create a kaleidoscopic background on Chika Shimizu’s pied-à-terre set.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2025

Besides a Manhattan pied-à-terre, there was a retreat on the French Riviera, a lavish Paris apartment and a condo in Hawaii.

From New York Times • May 20, 2024

He also has ties to U.S. interests, including a multimillion-dollar pied-à-terre in New York City and a $5 million house in Weston, Conn.

From Washington Post • Apr. 4, 2022

This is all an educated guess based on the information you’ve provided, but there are ways to check to see if other cats have made your yard their nighttime pied-à-terre.

From Slate • Nov. 23, 2019

In other words, it had become a pied-à-terre.

From A Boswell of Baghdad With Diversions by Lucas, E. V. (Edward Verrall)

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.