pigeonhole

American  

[pij-uhn-hohl] / ˈpɪdʒ ənˌhoʊl /

noun

1. one of a series of small, open compartments, as in a desk, cabinet, or the like, used for filing or sorting papers, letters, etc.

2. a hole or recess, or one of a series of recesses, for pigeons to nest in.

3. Also called white hole, pigeon hole. Printing. white space created by setting words or lines too far apart.

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verb (used with object)

• pigeonholes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• pigeonholed,
  past participle,  past
• pigeonholing
  present participle

1. to assign to a definite place or to definite places in some orderly system.

   to pigeonhole new ideas.

   Synonyms:

   catalog, categorize

2. to lay aside for use or reference at some later, indefinite time.

   We must pigeonhole this excellent plan until the time is ripe.

   Synonyms:

   file

3. to put aside for the present, especially with the intention of ignoring or forgetting, often indefinitely.

   to pigeonhole an unwanted invitation.

   Synonyms:

   shelve, postpone

4. to place in or as if in a pigeonhole or pigeonholes.

   to pigeonhole papers.

5. to fit or provide with pigeonholes.

   The desk must be pigeonholed for all my papers.

pigeonhole British  

/ ˈpɪdʒɪnˌhəʊl /

noun

1. a small compartment for papers, letters, etc, as in a bureau

2. a hole or recess in a dovecote for pigeons to nest in

3. informal a category or classification

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verb

1. to put aside or defer

2. to classify or categorize, esp in a rigid manner

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• pigeonholing
  present
• pigeonholed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• pigeonhole
  simple
• pigeonholes
  simple
• have pigeonholed
  perfect
• has pigeonholed
  perfect
• am pigeonholing
  progressive
• are pigeonholing
  progressive
• is pigeonholing
  progressive
• have been pigeonholing
  perfect progressive
• has been pigeonholing
  perfect progressive

Past

• pigeonholed
  simple
• had pigeonholed
  perfect
• was pigeonholing
  progressive
• were pigeonholing
  progressive
• had been pigeonholing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will pigeonhole
  simple
• will have pigeonholed
  perfect
• will be pigeonholing
  progressive
• will have been pigeonholing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of pigeonhole

First recorded in 1570–80; pigeon ¹ + hole

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Explanation

A pigeonhole is a small nesting area for a pigeon, or a similarly cozy compartment or alcove. If you feel like you're stuck in a restrictive category — only thought of as someone's sister, for example — that's another kind of pigeonhole. A cubbyhole in your desk is one kind of pigeonhole, and the little box where a domesticated pigeon sleeps is another. These original meanings date from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. By the 1870s, pigeonhole had also come to mean "an overly simplistic or restrictive category," and also "to assign someone to a rigid category." So when you assume that a circus clown couldn't also be a brilliant mathematician, you have pigeonholed him.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pigeonhole pigeonholes pigeonholed pigeonholing

But while the subjects of pleasure and open-mindedness captivate her, on screen Anderson is not letting the industry pigeonhole her.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

In nonfiction, authors consider how we define wild places, how we pigeonhole the aging, and how languages live or die.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

“If we embrace narrow group-based identities too fiercely, we cling to the very cages in which others would seek to trap us. We pigeonhole ourselves.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026

"Aerospace has something for people with different backgrounds, different qualifications, there's so much variety. So don't pigeonhole yourself, there really is something for everyone here."

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2025

When the knock came on her door she put the envelopes in a pigeonhole of her desk.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Somewhere along the way if you're a young actor coming up, you can bet there are pigeonholes for everyone.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2024

His fundamental theme is how social media pigeonholes us and mines our data, a condescending phenomenon that treats us less like human beings than abstractions made up of marketable information.

From New York Times ● Oct. 13, 2022

From left: Withings ScanWatch, Fossil Hybrid HR, Skagen Jorn, Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid What bothers me about the Stella design is how it somewhat pigeonholes your style.

From The Verge ● Jul. 16, 2022

“At this point in my career, I have a reasonably good sense of the pigeonholes that I’ve either carved out for myself or been jammed into over the past couple of decades,” said Helms.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 2, 2021

Sitting at the desk, Booth removes a piece of paper and an envelope from the pigeonholes.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly

But one gets the sense that Thatcher’s worried about being pigeonholed.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

I’m not a young guy but I don’t want to get pigeonholed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

The American actor says she is "always" being pigeonholed into a certain role due to her age but she "resists at every turn".

From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026

Eva Longoria is unafraid to speak her mind, whether it’s about politics, Latino issues or being pigeonholed as sexy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2025

Second, developmental sequences are not invariant, so examples pigeonholed under the same stage are inevitably heterogeneous.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Many of the offers centered on capitalizing on their family names and pigeonholing them into commercial pop or hip-hop, which they tried and ultimately disliked.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

Raphael Benza, head of Johannesburg-based record label Vth Season, says the very name Best African Performance goes against pigeonholing.

From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2025

Aside from the expressive art, “the story is not so much a story as an affirmation, about identity and being open to change and not pigeonholing yourself.”

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 13, 2023

It seems he had a bit of a fixation there for a couple of decades, but beyond that he defies pigeonholing.

From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2023

It offers no nifty formulas for pigeonholing people or decoding folkways and manners.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

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