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

“There are many people, particularly in the United States, who will automatically pigeonhole anything that’s animated into a certain box,” Kaszanek said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026

But she also defied the industry tendency to pigeonhole performers based on the breakout success of characters like Claire Bennet.

From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026

To see how we’ve evolved from the era of pigeonhole desks to today’s Zoom calls, it’s worth taking a close look at 10 landmark inventions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 15, 2025

“I’m not going to pigeonhole myself into any plans,” McVay said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2025

This bit of common sense, sometimes termed the pigeonhole or Dirichlet drawer principle, can occasionally be used to derive claims that are not so obvious.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

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

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

“It pigeonholes you. I remember having a conversation with my dad in ’74.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2019

His musical tastes were broad, and he was already resisting pigeonholes.

From New York Times ● Feb. 8, 2017

Based on these mini-experiments, modern grammarians have sorted words into grammatical categories that sometimes differ from the traditional pigeonholes.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Steinem said that she was pigeonholed because of the story.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

Singers like D’Angelo and Maxwell and rap acts including Common and the Roots were also part of the scene, but like many creative people Ms. Badu disliked being pigeonholed and rejected the label.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

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

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

Sometimes pigeonholed as just a goalscorer, Haaland has 24 assists in three seasons for Manchester City in the Premier League and Europe, compared with 26 at Bayern for Kane.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

Jazz celebrity though he was, Duke Ellington disliked his music being pigeonholed as ‘jazz’; he preferred simply to call it ‘American music’, and he experimented in many forms and genres.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Points, too, for the solid casting, from the leads’ tricky pivoting from openness to caginess, to the criminally underseen Wasikowska, who navigates maternal complexities of worry and compassion that confound easy pigeonholing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026

A whistleblower has told Panorama there was a "pattern" of "pigeonholing" small businesses as "distressed" when they were "salvageable".

From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2025

He no longer felt like the “Baby” singer everyone was so hellbent on pigeonholing him as.

From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2024

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

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

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