definitions

piker

[ pahy-ker ]
/ ˈpaɪ kər /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR piker ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Informal.

a person who does anything in a contemptibly small or cheap way.
a stingy, tight-fisted person; tightwad.
a person who gambles, speculates, etc., in a small, cautious way.

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RELATED WORDS

deserter, dropout, goldbrick, wimp, slacker, shirker, goof-off, tightwad, Scrooge, skinflint, goldbricker

Nearby words

pikeblenny, piked dogfish, pikelet, pikeman, pikeperch, piker, pikes peak, pikestaff, pikesville, pikey, piking

Origin of piker

1275–1325; Middle English: petty thief, equivalent to pik(en) to pick1 + -er1; compare dial. (N England, Scots, Hiberno-English) pike to pick1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for piker

British Dictionary definitions for piker

piker

/ (ˈpaɪkə) /

noun slang

Australian a wild bullock
Australian and NZ a useless person; failure
US, Australian and NZ a lazy person; shirker
a mean person

Word Origin for piker

C19: perhaps related to pike ³
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