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Synonyms

piggy bank

American  

noun

  1. a small bank, having the shape of a pig, provided with a slot at the top to receive small coins.

  2. any small bank in which coins are kept.


piggy bank British  

noun

  1. a child's coin bank shaped like a pig with a slot for coins

"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 piggy bank

First recorded in 1940–45

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.

They include a teenage boy with a piggy bank full of videogame winnings, a young woman in need of a heart transplant, a cash-poor film producer and a mute priest.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

The county piggy bank is not being raided, although public bonds still represent a subsidy and the assumption of some public risk.

From Slate • Nov. 24, 2025

UK retailers are being "raided like a piggy bank", the boss of Marks & Spencer has said, as the sector faces rising taxes.

From BBC • Feb. 9, 2025

But Mara obviously internalized what he said: When we got home, she opened her piggy bank, which held her income from recent babysitting jobs, to see if she could scrape together the 50 bucks.

From Salon • Aug. 3, 2024

Before she went to baby-sit again, Shirley secretly substituted buttons for the coins in the piggy bank.

From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord

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