I. ˈpig noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English pigge
1. : a young swine of either sex that has not reached sexual maturity ; broadly : a wild or domestic swine — see hog 1a
2.
a. : pig's flesh as food : bacon , ham , pork
b. : the dressed carcass of a young swine weighing less than 130 pounds
c. : pigskin
3. : one thought to resemble or suggest a pig in habits or behavior (as in dirtiness, greediness, selfishness)
profit by such a lesson and not make such a gorging pig of himself — F.S.Anthony
feel a pig for having allowed a fortnight to go by without a letter — H.J.Laski
4. : an animal likened to the pig (as a guinea pig or bushpig) — usually used in combination or with a qualifying word
5.
[so called from the resemblance of the arrangement of the molds in the pig bed to suckling pigs]
a. : a crude casting of metal (as iron or lead) convenient for storage, transportation, or melting ; especially : one of standard size and shape for marketing run directly from the smelting furnace — compare ingot
b. : a mold or channel in the pig bed
c. : pig iron , pig lead
6.
a. : a small iron or steel car pulled by a cable on a narrow-gage track and used for handling a railway freight car on an incline too steep for a locomotive
b. slang : a railroad locomotive
7. : a flask having two or more tubulures to which smaller flasks may be attached and used especially to collect fractions during fractional distillation
8. : a brush, swab, or scraper pushed or pulled through a pipe or duct to clean it
9. : a simple card game in which as cards are passed one at a time from player to player the first player to hold four of a kind lays his hand on the table and puts a finger against his nose and the last to notice and do likewise becomes the pig
10. slang : an immoral woman
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- in pig
II. verb
( pigged ; pigged ; pigging ; pigs )
intransitive verb
1. : to bring forth in the manner of pigs : farrow
2. : to huddle, lie together, or live in a way attributed to pigs
a rare collection of human animals … pigging together in mean huts — V.L.Parrington
transitive verb
1. : litter
2. : to crowd like pigs
they love fighting and they get more chance when they're all pigged in together — J.N.Hall
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- pig it
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English pygg
chiefly Scotland
a. : an earthenware vessel
b. : crock
IV. noun
: policeman — usually used disparagingly