[penny pincher], [penny pinching] See: PINCH PENNIES.
[penny wise and pound foolish] Wise or careful in small things but not careful enough in important things. — A proverb. •/Mr. Smith’s fence is rotting and falling down because he wouldn’t spend money to paint it. He is penny wise and pound foolish./
[pen pal]{n.} A friend who is known to someone through an exchange of letters. •/John’s pen pal writes him letters about school in Alaska./
[people who live in glass houses should not throw stones] Do not complain about other people if you are as bad as they are. — A proverb. •/Mary says that Betty is jealous, but Mary is more jealous herself. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones./
[pep talk]{n.}, {informal} A speech that makes people feel good so they will try harder and not give up. •/The football coach gave the team a pep talk./ •/Mary was worried about her exams, but felt better after the teacher’s pep talk./
[period of grace] See: GRACE PERIOD.
[perish the thought]{v. phr.} Let us not even think of it; may it never come true. — Used as an exclamation. •/If John fails the college entrance exam — perish the thought — he will go back to high school for one more year./ •/Perish the thought that Mary should have cancer./ Compare: GOD FORBID.
[perk up]{v.} To get or give back pep, vigor, health, or spirit; become or make more lively; liven up. •/He perked up quickly after his illness./ •/The rain perked up the flowers wonderfully./
[person] See: IN PERSON.
[pet name]{n. phr.} A special or abbreviated name indicating affection. •/He never calls his wife her real name, "Elizabeth," but only such pet names as "honey," "honey bunch," "sweetheart," and "sugar."/
[petard] See: HOIST WITH ONE’S OWN PETARD.
[Peter] See: ROB PETER TO PAY PAUL.
[peter out]{v.}, {informal} To fail or die down gradually; grow less; become exhausted. •/After the factory closed, the town pretty well petered out./ •/The mine once had a rich vein of silver, but it petered out./ •/But as he thought of her, his anger slowly petered out./ Compare: GIVE OUT.
[photo finish]{n. phr.} A close finish in a race of people or animals, where the camera must decide the actual result, sometimes by millimeters. •/The black horse was declared the winner in a photo finish./
[pick] See: BONE TO PICK or CROW TO PICK.
[pick a bone] See: BONE TO PICK.
[pick a fight] See: PICK A QUARREL.
[pick a hole in] or [pick holes in] {v. phr.}, {informal} To find a mistake in or things wrong with; criticize; blame. •/The witness said he had been walking in the moonlight last Sunday, but the lawyer picked a hole in what he said by proving that there was no moon and that it rained Sunday night./ •/Mary is always picking holes in what the other girls do./ Compare: FIND FAULT.
[pick and choose]{v.} To select with much care; choose in a fussy way; take a long time before choosing. •/He was never one to pick and choose./ •/Some people pick and choose to get something perfect, and some just because they can’t make up their minds./
[pick apart] or [pick to pieces] {v. phr.} To criticize harshly; find things wrong with; find fault with. •/After the dance, the girls picked Susan apart./ •/They picked the play to pieces./
[pick a pocket]{v. phr.} To steal by removing from the pocket of another. •/While in the train, somebody picked his pocket and took the last dollar he had./
[pick a/the lock]{v. phr.} To burglarize; open illegally; open a lock without the regular key. •/The robber got into the house by picking the lock./
[pick a quarrel]{v. phr.} To seek the opportunity for a fight or a quarrel. •/When Charlie has too much to drink, he has a tendency to pick a quarrel with whomever happens to be around./ See: PICK A FIGHT.
[pick at]{v.} 1. To reach or grasp for repeatedly. •/The baby kept picking at the coverlet./ 2. To eat without appetite; choose a small piece every little while to eat. •/He picked at his food./ 3. To annoy or bother continually; find fault with. •/They showed their displeasure by continually picking at her./ Syn.: PICK ON.
[pick holes in]{v. phr.} To criticize or find fault with something, such as a speech, a statement, a theory, etc. •/It is easier to pick holes in someone else’s argument than to make a good one yourself./
[pick-me-up]{n. phr.} Something you take when you feel tired or weak. •/John stopped at a drugstore for a pick-me-up after working three hours overtime./ •/Mary always carried a bar of chocolate in her pocketbook for a pick-me-up./
[pickpocket]{n.} A thief; a petty criminal who steals things and money out of people’s pockets on a bus, train, etc. •/In some big cities many poor children become pickpockets out of poverty./
[pick off]{v.} 1. To pull off; remove with the fingers. •/He picked off the burs that had stuck to his overcoat./ 2. To shoot, one at a time; knock down one by one. •/The sniper picked off the slower soldiers as they came out into the road./ 3. To catch a base runner off base by throwing the ball quickly to a fielder who tags him out. •/The pitcher turned around suddenly and threw to the second baseman to pick the runner off second base./ Compare: OFF BASE. 4. To catch and, especially in football, to intercept. •/Alert defenders picked off three of Jack’s passes./
[pick on]{v.} 1. {informal} To make a habit of annoying or bothering (someone); do or say bad things to (someone). •/Other boys picked on him until he decided to fight them./ Syn.: PICK AT(3). 2. To single out; choose; select. •/He visited a lot of colleges, and finally picked on Stanford./
[pick one’s teeth]{v. phr.} To clean one’s teeth with a toothpick. •/It is considered poor manners to pick one’s teeth in public./
[pick one’s way]{v. phr.} To go ahead carefully in difficult or unfamiliar places; advance with care. •/After nightfall we drove slowly along, picking our way until we found the right turn./ •/He picked his way across the rough and rocky hillside./
[pick out]{v.} 1. To choose. •/It took Mary a long time to pick out a dress at the store./ 2. To see among others; recognize; tell from others. •/We could pick out different places in the city from the airplane./ •/We could not pick Bob out in the big crowd./ Syn.: MAKE OUT(2). 3. To find by examining or trying; tell the meaning. •/The box was so dirty we couldn’t pick out the directions on the label./ Compare: FIND OUT.
[pick over]{v.} To select the best of; look at and take what is good from; choose from. •/She picked the apples over and threw out the bad ones./ •/We hurried to the big sale, but we were late and everything had already been picked over./
[pick the brains of]{v. phr.} To get ideas or information about a particular subject by asking an expert. •/If you have time, I’d like to pick your brains about home computers./
[pick to pieces] See: PICK APART, PICK HOLES IN.
[pickup]{n.}, (stress on "pick") 1. A rugged, small truck. •/When he got into the lumber business, Max traded in his comfortable two-door sedan for a pickup./ 2. Scheduled meeting in order to transfer merchandise or stolen goods. •/The pickup goes down at 7 A.M. every day by the loading dock./ •/The dope pushers usually make their pickup on Rush Street./ 3. A person who is easy to persuade to go home with the suitor. •/Sue is said to be an easy pickup./
[pick up]{v.} 1. To take up; lift. •/During the morning Mrs. Carter picked up sticks in the yard./ 2. {informal} To pay for someone else. •/After lunch, in the restaurant, Uncle Bob picked up the check./ 3. To take on or away; receive; get. •/At the next corner the bus stopped and picked up three people./ 4. To get from different places at different times; a little at a time; collect. •/He had picked up rare coins in seaports all over the world./ 5. To get without trying; get accidentally. •/He picked up knowledge of radio just by staying around the radio station./ •/Billy picked up a cold at school./ 6a. To gather together; collect. •/When the carpenter finished making the cabinet, he began picking up his tools./ 6b. To make neat and tidy; tidy up; put in order. •/Pick up your room before Mother sees it./ 6c. To gather things together; tidy a place up. •/It’s almost dinner time, children. Time to pick up and get ready./ 7. To catch the sound of. •/He picked up Chicago on the radio./ 8. To get acquainted with (someone) without an introduction; make friends with (a person of the other sex). •/Mother told Mary not to walk home by herself from the party because some stranger might try to pick her up./ 9. {informal} To take to the police station or jail; arrest. •/Police picked the man up for burglary./ 10. To recognize the trail of a hunted person or animal; find. •/State police picked up the bandit’s trail./ •/The dogs picked up the fox’s smell./ 11. To make (someone) feel better; refresh. •/A little food will pick you up./ 12a. To increase (the speed); make (the speed) faster. •/The teacher told her singing class to pick up the tempo./ •/The car picked up speed./ 12b. To become faster; become livelier. •/The speed of the train began to pick up./ •/After the band practiced for a while, the music began to pick up./ 13. To start again after interruption; go on with. •/The class picked up the story where they had left it before the holiday./ •/They met after five years, and picked up their friendship as if there had been no interruption./ 14. {informal} To become better; recover; gain. •/She picked up in her schoolwork./ •/He picked up gradually after a long illness./ •/His spirits picked up as he came near home./
[pick up the tab]{v. phr.} To pay the bill in a restaurant; be the one who underwrites financially what others are doing. •/"I am always the one who picks up the tab," Charlie complained bitterly. "Others get away with being freeloaders."/ Compare: FOOT THE BILL.
[Pidgin English]{n. phr.} A jargon that consists of some mispronounced English words and some foreign words used by Orientals in talking with Westerners. •/You can conduct a lot of business in Pidgin English in the Far East./
[pie] See: EAT HUMBLE PIE, FINGER IN THE PIE, PIE IN THE SKY, SWEETIE PIE.
[piece] See: BY THE PIECE, CONVERSATION PIECE, GIVE A PIECE OF ONE’S MIND, GO TO PIECES, OF A PIECE, PIECE OF CAKE, SAY ONE’S PIECE or SPEAK ONE’S PIECE, TO PIECES.
[piece of cake]{adj.}, {slang} Easy. •/The final exam was a piece of cake./
[piece out]{v.} 1. To put together from many different pieces; put together from odd parts; patch. •/They pieced out a meal from leftovers./ •/He pieced out the machine with scrap parts./ •/The detective pieced out the story from a stray fact here, a clue there, and a hint somewhere else./ 2. To make larger or longer by adding one or more pieces. •/The girl grew so fast that her mother had to piece out her dresses./
[piecework]{n.} Work paid for in accordance with the quantity produced. •/Al prefers working on a piecework basis to being on a regular salary because he feels he makes more that way./
[pie in the sky]{n. phr.}, {informal} An unrealistic wish or hope. •/Our trip to Hawaii is still only a pie in the sky./ Compare: PIPE DREAM.
[pigeonhole]{v.} 1. To set aside; defer consideration of. •/The plan was pigeonholed until the next committee meeting./ 2. To typecast; give a stereotypical characterization to someone. •/It was unfair of the committee to pigeonhole him as a left-wing troublemaker./
[pigeonhole]{n.} 1. Small compartment for internal mail in an office or a department. •/"You can just put your late exam into my pigeonhole," said Professor Brown to the concerned student./ 2. One of the small compartments in a desk or cabinet. •/He keeps his cufflinks in a pigeonhole in his desk./
