PENNY

[noun] [C] [plural] pence or p or pennies - the smallest unit of money in Britain of which there are 100 in a pound, or a small coin worth this much(UK) You use 'pence' or, more informally, 'p' when you are speaking of the unit of money and 'pennies' when you are speaking of the coins themselves.Could you lend me 50 pence/50p please?I found a ten/twenty/fifty pence piece (= a coin of this value) in the phone booth.I keep pennies and other small coins in a jar.In the US and Canada, a penny is a cent or a coin of this value.In Britain before 1971, a penny or old penny was a large coin. There were twelve pennies in a shilling.In many phrases, penny is used when speaking of the smallest amount of money possible.Buy a TV now and it won't cost you a penny for 3 months.It was an expensive meal but worth every penny.(UK) 'In for a penny, in for a pound' means that since you have started something or are involved in it, you should complete the work although it has become more difficult or complicated than you had expected.(UK) 'Take care of/Look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of/look after themselves' means that if you do not waste small amounts of money, you will succeed in saving large amounts of money in the future.(UK informal) If you say that the penny (has) dropped, you mean that you or someone else suddenly understands or becomes aware of something that you or they did not know about before.She looked confused for a moment, then suddenly the penny dropped and she burst out laughing.It took a long time for the penny to drop.You say a penny for your thoughts or a penny for them when you want to know what another person is thinking, usually because they have been quiet for a while.If someone doesn't have a penny to their name or doesn't have two pennies to rub together, they are very poor.If someone is described as penny-wise and pound-foolish, they are thought to be too careful about very small amounts of money and not able to consider larger, more important matters.(UK informal) If you describe something as two/ten a penny (US a dime a dozen), you mean that there is a lot of that thing and so it is not special or worth very much.Antique toy cars are ten a penny nowadays.(US) If something is described as penny-ante it is unimportant or not worth doing.He wanted us to get involved in some penny-ante deals.A penny-farthing is a type of bicycle used in the past which had a very large front wheel and a small back wheel.Penny-pinching is avoiding spending even the smallest amounts of money.Local residents have accused the council of penny-pinching.I became tired of his penny-pinching friends.A penny whistle is a small cheap musical instrument shaped like a tube with holes along one side and a part for your mouth at one end that you blow into. -penny [suffix] UKThe combining use -penny is used with numbers to show how many pence something costs, esp. in the past.a fourpenny ice-cream