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pig

Pronunciation: /pɪg/

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Definition of pig

noun

  • 1an omnivorous domesticated hoofed mammal with sparse bristly hair and a flat snout for rooting in the soil, kept for its meat.
    • Sus domesticus, family Suidae (the pig family), descended from the wild boar and domesticated over 8,000 years ago. The pig family also includes the warthog and babirusa
  • a wild animal of the pig family; a hog.
  • North American a young pig; a piglet.
  • [mass noun] the flesh of a pig as food.
  • 2 informal a greedy, dirty, or unpleasant person:I bet he’s scoffed them all, greedy pig
  • 3 derogatory a police officer: the pigs! the pigs! you’ll never take me alive, copper!
  • 4an oblong mass of iron or lead from a smelting furnace. See also pig iron.
  • 5a device which fits snugly inside an oil or gas pipeline and is sent through it to clean or test the inside, or to act as a barrier.

verb (pigs, pigging, pigged)

[no object]
  • 1 informal gorge oneself with food:lovesick people pig out on chocolate
  • 2 informal crowd together with other people in disorderly or dirty conditions:he didn’t approve of the proposal to pig it in the studio
  • 3(of a sow) give birth to piglets; farrow.
  • 4operate a pig within an oil or gas pipeline: (as noun pigging)they will carry out all trenching and pigging

Phrases

bleed like a (stuck) pig

bleed copiously.

in pig

(of a sow) pregnant.

in a pig's eye

informal, chiefly North American expressing scornful disbelief at a statement: ‘Under other circumstances, I think we could have been friends.’ ‘In a pig’s eye,’ Susan thought

make a pig of oneself

informal overeat: we made pigs of ourselves, with too many sweets

make a pig's ear of

British informal handle ineptly: only adults make a pig’s ear of it when they start fishing

on the pig's back

Irish informal living a life of ease and luxury; in a very fortunate situation.

pig in the middle

see piggy in the middle at piggy.

a pig in a poke

something that is bought or accepted without first being seen or assessed: the unwary were apt to buy a pig in the poke

pig in the python

a sharp statistical increase represented as a bulge in an otherwise level pattern, used especially with reference to the baby-boom generation regarded as having a gradual effect on consumer spending, society, etc. as they grow older.
[from the shape of such an increase being likened to that of a pig swallowed by a python]

a pig of a ——

British informal used to describe something unpleasant or difficult:it’s a pig of a job

pigs might (or can) fly

British used ironically to express disbelief: ‘Maybe he’s trying to change.’ ‘And maybe pigs can fly.’

squeal (or yell) like a stuck pig

squeal or yell loudly and shrilly.

sweat like a pig

informal sweat profusely: this priest outfit makes you sweat like a pig

Derivatives

piglike

adjective

pigling

noun

Origin:

Middle English: probably from the first element of Old English picbrēd 'acorn', literally 'pig bread' (i.e. food for pigs)

pig in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of pig in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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