n.
- Any of several mammals of the family Suidae, having short legs, cloven hooves, bristly hair, and a cartilaginous snout used for digging, especially the domesticated hog, Sus scrofa domesticus, when young or of comparatively small size.
- The edible parts of one of these mammals.
- Informal. A person regarded as being piglike, greedy, or gross.
- A crude block of metal, chiefly iron or lead, poured from a smelting furnace.
- A mold in which such metal is cast.
- Pig iron.
- Offensive Slang. Used as a disparaging term for a police officer.
- Slang. A member of the social or political establishment, especially one holding sexist or racist views.
To give birth to pigs; farrow.
phrasal verb:
pig out Slang.
- To eat ravenously; gorge oneself: "a parent who asks a child, 'Would you like to pig out on pizza?'" (George F. Will).
in a pig's eye Slang.
- Under no condition; never.
- Something that is offered in a manner that conceals its true nature or value.
- To live in a piglike fashion.
[Middle English pigge, young pig, probably from Old English *picga.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
