noun
1.
a baked food having a filling of fruit, meat, pudding, etc., prepared in a pastry-lined pan or dish and often topped with a pastry crust: apple pie; meat pie.
2.
a layer cake with a filling of custard, cream jelly, or the like: chocolate cream pie.
3.
a total or whole that can be divided: They want a bigger part of the profit pie.
4.
an activity or affair: He has his finger in the political pie too.
5.
6.
easy as pie, extremely easy or simple.
7.
nice as pie, extremely well-behaved, agreeable, or the like: The children were nice as pie.
8.
pie in the sky,
a.
the illusory prospect of future benefits: Political promises are often pie in the sky.
b.
a state of perfect happiness; utopia: to promise pie in the sky.
00:10
Pie
is always a great word to know.
So is lollapalooza. Does it mean:
| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English, of obscure origin
1275–1325; Middle English, of obscure origin
Related forms
pie·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
noun
Origin:
1200–50; Middle English < Old French < Latin pīca, akin to pīcus woodpecker
1200–50; Middle English < Old French < Latin pīca, akin to pīcus woodpecker
noun
a former bronze coin of India, the 12th part of an anna.
PIE
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To pie
Collins
World English Dictionary
pi or pie2 (paɪ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n , pl pies | |
| 1. | a jumbled pile of printer's type |
| 2. | a jumbled mixture |
| —vb , pies, pies, piing, pied, pies, pieing, pied | |
| 3. | to spill and mix (set type) indiscriminately |
| 4. | to mix up |
| [C17: of uncertain origin] | |
| pie or pie2 | |
| —n | |
| —vb | |
| [C17: of uncertain origin] | |
| pie1 (paɪ) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a baked food consisting of a sweet or savoury filling in a pastry-lined dish, often covered with a pastry crust |
| 2. | have a finger in the pie |
| a. to have an interest in or take part in some activity | |
| b. to meddle or interfere | |
| 3. | pie in the sky illusory hope or promise of some future good; false optimism |
| [C14: of obscure origin] | |
| pie2 (paɪ) | |
| —n | |
| an archaic or dialect name for magpie | |
| [C13: via Old French from Latin pīca magpie; related to Latin pīcus woodpecker] | |
| pie3 (paɪ) | |
| —n, —vb | |
| printing a variant spelling of pi | |
| pie4 (paɪ) | |
| —n | |
| a very small former Indian coin worth one third of a pice | |
| [C19: from Hindi pā'ī, from Sanskrit pādikā a fourth] | |
| pie or pye5 (paɪ) | |
| —n | |
| history a book for finding the Church service for any particular day | |
| [C15: from Medieval Latin pica almanac; see | |
| pye or pye5 | |
| —n | |
| [C15: from Medieval Latin pica almanac; see | |
| pie6 (paɪ) | |
| —adj | |
| informal (NZ) be pie on to be keen on | |
| [from Māori pai ana] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
pie
"pastry," c.1300, from M.L. pie "meat or fish enclosed in pastry," perhaps related to M.L. pia "pie, pastry," also possibly connected with pica "magpie" (see pie (2)) on notion of the bird's habit of collecting miscellaneous objects. Not known outside Eng., except Gaelic pighe,
which is from Eng. In the Middle Ages, a pie had many ingredients, a pastry but one. Fruit pies began to appear c.1600. Fig. sense of "something easy" is from 1889. Pie-eyed "drunk" is from 1904. Phrase pie in the sky is 1911, from Joe Hill's Wobbly parody of hymns. Pieman is not attested earlier than the nursery rhyme "Simple Simon" (c.1820).
pie
"magpie," mid-13c., from O.Fr. pie (13c.), from L. pica "magpie," related to picus "woodpecker," Umbrian peica "the magpie," Skt. pikah "Indian cuckoo," O.N. spætr, Ger. Specht "woodpecker" (see magpie).
pie
printers' slang for "a mass of type jumbled together" (also pi, pye), 1659, perhaps from pie (1) on notion of a "medley," or pie (2) (see pica).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
| PIE Proto-Indo-European |
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
pie
In addition to the idiom beginning with pie, also see apple-pie order; easy as pie; eat crow (humble pie); finger in the pie; slice of the pie.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia
pie
dish made by lining a shallow container with pastry and filling the container with a sweet or savoury mixture. A top crust may be added; the pie is baked until the crust is crisp and the filling is cooked through. Pies have been popular in the United States since colonial times, so much so that apple pie has become symbolic of traditional American home cooking. The typical American pie is round, 8-10 inches (20-25 cm) in diameter, 2-3 inches (5-8 cm) thick, and usually contains a sweet filling of fruit, custard, or a pastry cream. Some American specialties are pecan pie, pumpkin custard pie (traditionally served on Thanksgiving Day), lemon pie with a soft meringue topping, and shoofly pie, a Pennsylvania Dutch (see Pennsylvania German) pie with a rich filling containing molasses.
Learn more about pie with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
Best ever: vanilla on hot fresh homemade rhubarb pie.
Arrange one pastry round in a shallow pie plate or on a baking sheet.
Once, he responded to a client's request with a bunch of pie charts that measured his disinterest in the job.
But the food was bland, and the apple pie wasn't that good.
Idioms & Phrases
Image for pie
Nearby Words
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