penny

Plural: pence, pennies, pens

Noun

• A small monetary unit or coin in various countries.
• a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
• a coin worth one-hundredth of the value of the basic unit
• In the United Kingdom and Ireland and many other countries, a unit of currency worth ¹⁄₂₄₀ of a pound sterling or Irish pound before decimalisation, or a copper coin worth this amount. Abbreviation: d.
• In the United Kingdom, a unit of currency worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of a pound sterling, or a copper coin worth this amount. Abbreviation: p.
• In Ireland, a coin worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of an Irish pound before the introduction of the euro. Abbreviation: p.
• In the US and (formerly) Canada, a one-cent coin, worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of a dollar. Abbreviation: ¢.
• In various countries, a small-denomination copper or brass coin.
• A unit of nail size, said to be either the cost per 100 nails, or the number of nails per penny. Abbreviation: d.
• Money in general.

Verb

• To jam a door shut by inserting pennies between the doorframe and the door.
• To circumvent the tripping of an electrical circuit breaker by the dangerous practice of inserting a coin in place of a fuse in a fuse socket.
• During a meal or as part of a drinking game, to drop a penny in a person's drink with the expectation that they finish it (or some such variation thereof); commonly associated with crewdates at Oxford and swaps at Cambridge.

Examples

• He was down to his last PENNY, or rather, his last few tiles, in a close Words With Friends game.
• to turn an honest penny
• You got pennied! Down it, fresher.
• Zach and Ben had only been at college for a week when their door was pennied by the girls down the hall.

Synonyms

cent, centime, 1⁄100 of a pound sterling, old penny

Related Words

cent, d, pence § Descendants