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Synonyms

piker

American  
[pahy-ker] / ˈpaɪ kər /

noun

Informal.
  1. a person who does anything in a contemptibly small or cheap way.

  2. a stingy, tight-fisted person; tightwad.

    Synonyms:
    skinflint, penny pincher, cheapskate
  3. a person who gambles, speculates, etc., in a small, cautious way.


piker British  
/ ˈpaɪkə /

noun

  1. a wild bullock

  2. a useless person; failure

  3. a lazy person; shirker

  4. a mean person

"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 piker

1275–1325; Middle English: petty thief, equivalent to pik ( en ) to pick 1 + -er 1; compare dial. (N England, Scots, Hiberno-English ) pike to pick 1


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.

See Examples For:

Michael Bloomberg, another SPC, with his own media empire, makes Schultz look like a piker by comparison.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 16, 2019

In California’s 39th District, it makes her a piker.

From Slate ● May 31, 2018

But even he was a piker compared with wartime presidents such as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 8, 2014

The Rapture is a piker in this film; of its reported $16 million budget, roughly $15 million appears to have gone to Cage on a dare that he maintain a straight face.

From Chicago Tribune ● Oct. 2, 2014

"I am not going to be a piker to Uncle Sam."

From Believe You Me! by Nina Wilcox Putnam

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