pistareen
Americannoun
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of pistareen
1735–45, perhaps alteration of Spanish peseta peseta
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.
A pistareen was a Spanish coin worth about seventeen cents.
From Diary of Anna Green Winslow A Boston School Girl of 1771 by Winslow, Anna Green
Many were so worn that a pistareen would bring only a Yankee shilling, sixteen and two-thirds cents; the half-pistareen, only eight cents; the real, ten; the half-real, five.
From History of the United States, Volume 2 by Andrews, Elisha Benjamin
A white sea bear appeared in the port of Pollard's Tavern and could be seen for half a pistareen.
From Customs and Fashions in Old New England by Earle, Alice Morse
He's nothing but a pistareen, and hardly that.
From Wreaths of Friendship A Gift for the Young by Woodworth, Francis C. (Francis Channing)
The high Germans above us, like that Herkimer you saw here Tuesday, do you think they care a pistareen for the King?
From In the Valley by Frederic, Harold
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
