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definitions

stiver

[stahy-ver]
noun
  1. Also stuiver. a former nickel coin of the Netherlands, equal to five Dutch cents.
  2. the smallest possible amount: not worth a stiver; not a stiver of work.

Origin of stiver

First recorded in 1495–1505, stiver is from the Dutch word stuiver
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for stiver

Historical Examples of stiver

  • Not a stiver in his pockets, nor as much as a sleeve-link to help pay for the burial.'

    Micah Clarke

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • Not a stiver would they get in Belfast, until backed by the Queen's troops.

    Ireland as It Is

    Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)

  • To force her was the way to stiver up every contrary emotion.

    Beyond

    John Galsworthy

  • Hadn't a stiver left one night, but I pawned my grandfather's Louis xiv.

  • "Not worth a stiver" is a colloquialism to express a person's poverty.

    The Sailor's Word-Book

    William Henry Smyth

British Dictionary definitions for stiver

stiver

noun
  1. a former Dutch coin worth one twentieth of a guilder
  2. a small amount, esp of money

Word Origin for stiver

C16: from Dutch stuiver; related to Middle Low German stüver, Danish styver
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