pie

¹

[ pahy ]

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. pizza.

pie

²

[ pahy ]

noun

1. magpie.

pie

³

[ pahy ]

noun

, pied, pie·ing.

1. a spelling variant of pi ².

pie

⁴

or pye

[ pahy ]

noun

1. (in England before the Reformation) a book of ecclesiastical rules for finding the particulars of the service for the day.

pie

⁵

[ pahy ]

noun

1. a former bronze coin of India, the 12th part of an anna.

PIE

⁶

abbreviation for

1. Proto-Indo-European.

pie

¹

/ paɪ /

noun

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
   1. to have an interest in or take part in some activity
   2. to meddle or interfere
3. pie in the sky
   illusory hope or promise of some future good; false optimism

pie

²

/ paɪ /

adjective

1. be pie on informal.
   to be keen on

pie

³

/ paɪ /

noun

1. a very small former Indian coin worth one third of a pice

pie

⁴

/ paɪ /

noun

1. printing a variant spelling of pi 2

pie

⁵

/ paɪ /

noun

1. history a book for finding the Church service for any particular day

pie

⁶

/ paɪ /

noun

1. an archaic or dialect name for magpie

Other Words From

• pielike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pie¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English pi(e), pey; of obscure origin

Origin of pie²

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English pi(e), peie, from Old French, from Latin pīca, akin to pīcus “woodpecker”

Origin of pie³

First recorded in 1470–80; translation of Latin pīca “magpie”; (the allusion is obscure); pica ¹, pie ²

Origin of pie⁴

First recorded in 1855–60; from Hindi pāī “quarter, fourth part,” from Sanskrit pādikā; pada ( def ); pice ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of pie¹

C14: of obscure origin

Origin of pie²

from Māori pai ana

Origin of pie³

C19: from Hindi pā'ī, from Sanskrit pādikā a fourth

Origin of pie⁴

C15: from Medieval Latin pica almanac; see pica ¹

Origin of pie⁵

C13: via Old French from Latin pīca magpie; related to Latin pīcus woodpecker

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. easy as pie, extremely easy or simple.
2. nice as pie, extremely well-behaved, agreeable, or the like:

   The children were nice as pie.

3. pie in the sky,
   1. the illusory prospect of future benefits:

      Political promises are often pie in the sky.

   2. a state of perfect happiness; utopia:

      to promise pie in the sky.

More idioms and phrases containing 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 .

Example Sentences

But slapping VAT on pies and pasties caused a nationwide uproar that looked like an assault on working Britain's lunch.

From BBC

As someone who likes to have the same breakfast every morning — a slice of apple pie — and is hypervigilant about counting ballots, all the changes have been hard, but exciting.

From Los Angeles Times

A close ally of the president, MP Oscar Sudi, has taken to X to eat some humble pie, apologising to Catholic bishops on behalf of the government.

From BBC

The heir to a pie company fortune has been found guilty of murdering his best friend after stabbing him 37 times on Christmas Eve in the house they shared.

From BBC

Aside from the middle aisle, Mr McDonnell said there had been a lot of early spend on mince pies, party food and panettone.

From BBC

Related Words

• cake
• candy
• confection
• cookie
• fruit
• ice cream
• pastry
• sweet