The smallest, lowest-value coin in your hand — one little penny. Because it is the tiniest unit of money, almost every other use leans on that 'one small coin' picture: 'not a penny' (no money at all), 'every penny' (down to the last small coin), and the where a single penny stands for the smallest possible amount.

可以想成手心裡那枚最小、面額最低的硬幣——一便士。正因為它是「錢」能切到的最小一塊,後面幾乎所有用法都靠這個「一枚小銅板」的畫面在撐:not a penny(連一毛都沒有)、every penny(連最小那一枚都算進去),還有一堆把「一便士」當成「最小一點點」的慣用語。

Three branches

貨幣單位與硬幣(字面)

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a penny (UK coin) · noun · B1

A coin worth one penny — the small, lowest-value British coin.

一便士硬幣

「最小一點點錢」的強調語

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not a penny · noun · B1

Used in 'not a penny' to stress that someone has no money at all, or that something cost nothing.

一毛也沒有

由硬幣衍生的慣用語

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the penny drops · noun · B1

Someone finally understands something they could not work out before.

終於懂了

原始詞典資料15 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,摘錄並精簡格式,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

Pennyname詞源 1/ˈpɛni/

  • 1

    A diminutive of the female given name Penelope.

Pennyname詞源 2/ˈpɛni/

  • 1

    A surname.

    • Max Cross cut a fine figure as the Colonel, Percy Penny was a somewhat unducal Duke, while Edgar McHale gave a particularly good rendering of the Major.
    • “Because these racist bigots try to prevent us from standing up for our baby, our boy, he should be afforded the same rights that Kyle Rittenhouse had, Daniel Penny and all the people who have claimed whatever their defense was – he should be afforded the same right,” Alexander said later in the press conference.
  • 2

    A place name, presumably all taken from the surname:

  • 3

    A place name, presumably all taken from the surname:

  • 4

    A place name, presumably all taken from the surname:

pennynoun/ˈpɛni/

  • 1

    historicalIn the United Kingdom and Ireland and many other countries, a unit of currency worth ¹⁄₂₄₀ of a pound sterling or Irish pound before decimalisation, or a copper coin worth this amount. Abbreviation: d.

    • Thanks to that penny he had just spent so recklessly [on a newspaper] he would pass a happy hour, taken, for once, out of his anxious, despondent, miserable self. It irritated him shrewdly to know that these moments of respite from carking care would not be shared with his poor wife, with careworn, troubled Ellen.
    • We had not proceeded very far across the south cantilever when we saw a penny lying beside the track, and another a short distance further on. We were to find several more pennies, and some half-pennies, before we reached the north shore. Inspector Bell explained that many passengers try to throw a coin into the Forth, for "good luck," while trains are crossing the bridge.
  • 2

    In the United Kingdom, a unit of currency worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of a pound sterling, or a copper coin worth this amount. Abbreviation: p.

  • 3

    historicalIn Ireland, a coin worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of an Irish pound before the introduction of the euro. Abbreviation: p.

  • 4

    In the US and (formerly) Canada, a one-cent coin, worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of a dollar. Abbreviation: ¢.

    • Holy shit! A hundred and eleven pennies! At that point, that dog had more Lincoln in him than Mary Todd.
    • A Treasury spokesperson said the government made its final order of penny blanks this month, and the United States Mint will continue to manufacture pennies only as long as an inventory of penny blanks exists.
  • 5

    In various countries, a small-denomination copper or brass coin.

  • 6

    A unit of nail size, said to be either the cost per 100 nails, or the number of nails per penny. Abbreviation: d.

  • 7

    Money in general.

    • to turn an honest penny
    • What penny hath Rome borne, / What men provided, what munition sent?

pennyverb/ˈpɛni/

  • 1

    slangTo jam a door shut by inserting pennies between the doorframe and the door.

    • Zach and Ben had only been at college for a week when their door was pennied by the girls down the hall.
  • 2

    businesselectrical-engineeringelectricityTo circumvent the tripping of an electrical circuit breaker by the dangerous practice of inserting a coin in place of a fuse in a fuse socket.

  • 3

    During a meal or as part of a drinking game, to drop a penny in a person's drink with the expectation that they finish it (or some such variation thereof); commonly associated with crewdates at Oxford and swaps at Cambridge.

    • You got pennied! Down it, fresher.

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary,已精簡格式;依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用,改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。