pigeonhole

noun pi·geon·hole \ ˈpi-jən-ˌhōl \

Updated on: 25 Apr 2018

1 : a hole or small recess for pigeons to nest

2 : a small open compartment (as in a desk or cabinet) for keeping letters or documents

3 : a neat category which usually fails to reflect actual complexities

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Recent Examples of pigeonhole from the Web

The more common punishment, however, is a pigeonhole.

— lee jenkins, SI.com, "Smooth Operator: Dwane Casey Is Still Ironing out Every Wrinkle He Can Find," 6 Mar. 2018
Taking their name from a childhood board game, Hüsker Dü evaded pigeonholes while outshining most of their punk brethren.

— jason heller, The Atlantic, "Remembering Hüsker Dü's Grant Hart," 9 Oct. 2017
Lynne grew increasingly frustrated with her Nashville pigeonhole, and was not shy about saying so in public.

— mary colurso | mcolurso@al.com, AL.com, "Alabama's Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer: 2 music roads paved with tragedy and triumph," 25 Aug. 2017
The blisters that made him funnel pitches into a pigeonhole for two months are finally clearing up.

— andrew baggarly, The Mercury News, "Johnny Cueto’s future with Giants is up in the air," 3 June 2017
An NCAA title on Monday might finally show how enormous this is, how strong Gonzaga had to be to escape its pigeonhole.

— mark whicker, Orange County Register, "Whicker: Gonzaga didn’t do this overnight," 30 Mar. 2017
As pigeonholes go, this is a rather roomy one to be in.

— the washington post, The Mercury News, "Who’s the uncanny JFK look-alike in ‘Jackie’?," 8 Mar. 2017
Similarly defying pigeonholes is Christopher Patton, who has optically transformed close-ups of his handwriting into a series of abstract images, made into a video loop.

— gary faigin, The Seattle Times, "Review: Diverse notions of drawing at the Whatcom Museum," 26 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pigeonhole.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of pigeonhole

1577

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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pigeonhole

verb

transitive verb

1 a : to place in or as if in the pigeonhole of a desk

b : to lay aside : shelve

his reports continued to be pigeonholed and his advice not taken
—Walter Mills

2 : to assign to an often restrictive category : classify

—

pigeonholer

play \ˈpi-jən-ˌhō-lər\ noun

See pigeonhole defined for English-language learners

Examples of pigeonhole in a Sentence

She likes to perform different types of music because she doesn't want to be pigeonholed.

Recent Examples of pigeonhole from the Web

Unfortunately, insistent platitudes and pigeonholing tend to mar Unger’s efforts.

— maxwell carter, New York Times, "How Picasso Became Picasso," 20 Apr. 2018
Regulars return time and again for fish tacos or lobster rolls, some so devoted that Gray has to remind them not to pigeonhole themselves with just one dish.

— zan romanoff, latimes.com, "This Navy vet turned fishmonger is smoking and curing some of L.A.'s best sustainable seafood," 2 Apr. 2018
The scenes between Woods and Arias beautifully exemplify the dramatic possibilities of characters unable to be pigeonholed as villains or victims.

— charles mcnulty, latimes.com, "A spectacular new 'Uncle Vanya' at San Diego's Old Globe," 21 Feb. 2018
Eclectic material and an overall sound not easily pigeonholed is a blessing and a curse, Nielsen says.

— vickie snow jurkowski, Daily Southtown, "Miles Nielsen is a fan of his dad's Cheap Trick, but Rusted Hearts takes center stage in his life," 15 Mar. 2018
Before you pigeonhole me as a full-on dipsomaniac (that’s a fancy way to say boozehound), allow me to explain that many rum distilleries in Martinique offer more than a linoleum tasting counter and a gift shop.

— christopher muther, BostonGlobe.com, "How Martinique’s rum became certifiably the best in the Caribbean," 14 Mar. 2018
Because of cognition bias, society immediately pigeonholes certain artists.

— susie schmank, Indianapolis Star, "New art galleries put Post-Its, video work and blank walls (for you to paint) on display," 29 Jan. 2018
Far too many people have tried to pigeonhole her Mildred Hayes as a feminist icon or straightforward heroine, but that gives the role, and her performance, too little credit.

— christopher orr, The Atlantic, "What Will Win at the Oscars?," 2 Mar. 2018
Ron Gardenhire off to a great start Not only for his fan friendliness, which colleague George Sipple detailed early Sunday morning, but for his patience in not pigeonholing players in certain roles.

— anthony fenech, Detroit Free Press, "Four Detroit Tigers observations from winter caravan, TigerFest," 27 Jan. 2018

First Known Use of pigeonhole

1840

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

PIGEONHOLE Defined for English Language Learners

pigeonhole

noun

: a small open space in a desk, cabinet, or wall for keeping letters or papers
—used to say that someone or something is being unfairly thought of or described as belonging to a particular group, having only a particular skill, etc.

pigeonhole

verb

: to unfairly think of or describe (someone or something) as belonging to a particular group, having only a particular skill, etc.

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See words that rhyme with pigeonhole Spanish Central: Translation of pigeonhole Nglish: Translation of pigeonhole for Spanish speakers

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