pie

1 of 4

noun (1)

ˈpī 

plural pies

1

a

: a dessert consisting of a filling (as of fruit or custard) in a pastry shell or topped with pastry or both

an apple pie

a slice of pumpkin pie

… desserts include lots of berry pies, butter pecan ice cream pies with a hot caramel topping, flummeries, and crisps.

—Judith and Evan Jones

b

: a meat dish baked with biscuit or pastry crust

a chicken pie

compare potpie

2

: pizza

The pizzeria earned its VPN (that's Vera Pizza Napoletana) status … for its authentic Neapolitan pies which are baked in a wood-fired oven imported from Italy.

—Katie Jackson

3

a

: affair, business

… she wanted her finger … in every possible social pie …

—Mary Deasy

b

: a whole regarded as divisible into shares

giving the less fortunate … a larger share of the economic pie

—R. M. Hutchins

pie

2 of 4

verb

pied; pieing; pies

transitive verb

informal

: to throw a pie at (someone) : to hit (someone) especially in the face with a pie

Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope was the latest target of a group of pie-wielding activists. … Pope was pied because he has gone against the interests of Sierra Club founder John Muir and the environment in his stance on such issues as the Headwaters Forest deal, the group said in a statement.

—Associated Press

One of his first duties as cub master was to be "pied" by those cub scouts who sold the most popcorn during a fundraiser to help pay for summer camp.

—Carol Malley

pie

3 of 4

noun (2)

plural pies

: magpie

pie

4 of 4

noun (3)

less common spelling of pi

1

: type that is spilled or mixed

2

: a pi character or matrix

Examples of pie in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

And for the first time, a giant gaming company is allowing creators to get a piece of the pie. —Sarah Parvini, Los Angeles Times, 16 Nov. 2023

Settle in for standout pies such as the squash pizza, which layers ricotta, pesto, and garlic confit on a sourdough crust. —Cameron Quincy Todd, Saveur, 15 Nov. 2023

From gumbo to cornmeal catfish, key lime pie to icebox cookies, this cookbook has every Southerner’s favorite recipe. —Moriah Mason, Southern Living, 14 Nov. 2023

Pumpkin pie the day after Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday breakfast treat. —Elizabeth Karmel, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023

Given the brutal competition over the remaining one-third of the pie remaining, profits are razor-thin at best. —Bychristiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 13 Nov. 2023

The website says the 9-inch pie will serve six to eight, but that’s as a side dish, not the main event. —Florence Fabricant, New York Times, 13 Nov. 2023

This restaurant’s namesake says the pie is made by making pecan pie filling and pumpkin pie filling and then combining them together. —Abby Hamblin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Nov. 2023

The pie dough recipe guarantees an especially flaky crust. —Daniela Galarza, Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2023

Verb

Those pied include Andy Warhol, economist Milton Friedman, logging industry executive Charles Hurwitz, Monsanto chairman Robert Shapiro and Bill Gates. Cakes have become subjects of political debates for both sides. —Shelly Tan, Washington Post, 21 Sep. 2023

For French retiree Dany, this new stage of life meant purchasing a 355-square-foot (33-square-meter) pied à terre in the chic Puerta del Sol neighborhood of Madrid, Spain. —Kimberley Mok, Treehugger, 2 Mar. 2023

See More

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English

Verb

derivative of pie entry 1

Noun (2)

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin pica; akin to Latin picus woodpecker, Old High German speh

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Verb

1977, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing pie

• cow pie
• have a finger in a/the/every pie
• humble pie
• shoofly pie
• apple-pie
• (as) easy as pie
• cap-a-pie
• Boston cream pie
• shepherd's pie
• chess pie
• pie chart
• pie safe
• a piece/slice/share of the pie
• cutie-pie
• sweetie pie
• pumpkin pie spice
• eat humble pie
• pie in the sky
• (as) American as apple pie
• pie-faced
• key lime pie
• Washington pie
• pie-eyed
• cottage pie
• in apple-pie order
• pie hole
• shut your pie hole

See More

• cow pie
• have a finger in a/the/every pie
• humble pie
• shoofly pie
• apple-pie
• (as) easy as pie
• cap-a-pie
• Boston cream pie
• shepherd's pie
• chess pie
• pie chart
• pie safe
• a piece/slice/share of the pie
• cutie-pie
• sweetie pie
• pumpkin pie spice
• eat humble pie
• pie in the sky
• (as) American as apple pie
• pie-faced
• key lime pie
• Washington pie
• pie-eyed
• cottage pie
• in apple-pie order
• pie hole
• shut your pie hole

See More

Kids Definition

pie

noun

ˈpī

: a dish consisting of a pastry crust and a filling (as of fruit or meat)