I. pig 1 S2 /pɪɡ/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Origin: Probably from an unrecorded Old English picga ]
1 .
ANIMAL a farm animal with short legs, a fat body, and a curved tail. Pigs are kept for their meat, which includes ↑ pork , BACON, and ↑ ham . SYN hog American English :
He kept pigs and poultry.
2 . PERSON spoken
a) someone who eats too much or eats more than their share:
You greedy pig, you ate all the candy!
I made a bit of a pig of myself (=ate too much) at dinner.
b) someone who is unpleasant in some way, for example unkind or very untidy:
They live like pigs in that house over the road.
You can tell him from me he’s an ignorant pig.
(male) chauvinist pig (=a man who thinks women are not equal to men)
3 . POLICE taboo informal an offensive word for a police officer. Do not use this word.
4 . a pig (of a something) British English spoken something that is very difficult or unpleasant to do:
They’re improving, and they’re a pig of a team to beat.
5 . make a pig’s ear of something British English spoken to do something very badly:
Someone’s made a right pig’s ear of these repairs.
6 . in a pig’s eye American English spoken informal used to show that you do not believe what someone is saying
7 . pig in a poke spoken something you bought without seeing it first and that is not as good or valuable as you expected:
What if the car you buy turns out to be a pig in a poke?
8 . pigs might fly British English , when pigs fly American English spoken used to say that you do not think something will happen:
‘Someone might have handed in your pass.’ ‘Yes, and pigs might fly.’
II. pig 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle pigged , present participle pigging )
pig out phrasal verb
informal to eat a lot of food all at once
pig out on
I found Sam in front of the TV, pigging out on pizza and fries.