1
: one who gambles or speculates with small amounts of money
2
: one who does things in a small way
also
: tightwad, cheapskate
Examples of piker in a Sentence
don't be such a piker—live it up a little while you're on vacation!
Recent Examples on the Web
Berkeley in those days was an archipelago of dinner parties, and my parents were no pikers.
—
Caitlin Flanagan, The Atlantic, 9 Dec. 2024
Berkeley in those days was an archipelago of dinner parties, and my parents were no pikers.
—Caitlin Flanagan, The Atlantic, 9 Dec. 2024
And Stockfish, in turn, is a piker next to AlphaZero, which crushed it after a mere 24 hours of self-training.
—IEEE Spectrum, 6 Dec. 2018
So far, this pullback has taken 15% off gold’s peak price — a piker by historical standards — and has lasted just 13 months, well within norms for mid-cycle corrections.
—Moneyshow, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2021
Congress’s decision will ultimately determine whether this massive federal check-writing operation will be cemented in Joe Biden’s legacy — an initiative that’s already made FDR look like a government-check-writing piker by comparison.
—Matt Weidinger, National Review, 20 Sep. 2021
Compared to more established coins, SafeMoon is a piker.
—Danielle Abril, Fortune, 17 May 2021
The end result could make the architect of the Great Society look like a piker.
—W. James Antle Iii, Washington Examiner, 16 Mar. 2021
If lording such exclusivity over your piker friends who drive 500SLs and 850is is worth the price of a decent house to you, well fine.
—Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 27 May 2020
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Caitlin Flanagan, The Atlantic, 9 Dec. 2024
Berkeley in those days was an archipelago of dinner parties, and my parents were no pikers.
—Caitlin Flanagan, The Atlantic, 9 Dec. 2024
And Stockfish, in turn, is a piker next to AlphaZero, which crushed it after a mere 24 hours of self-training.
—IEEE Spectrum, 6 Dec. 2018
So far, this pullback has taken 15% off gold’s peak price — a piker by historical standards — and has lasted just 13 months, well within norms for mid-cycle corrections.
—Moneyshow, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2021
Congress’s decision will ultimately determine whether this massive federal check-writing operation will be cemented in Joe Biden’s legacy — an initiative that’s already made FDR look like a government-check-writing piker by comparison.
—Matt Weidinger, National Review, 20 Sep. 2021
Compared to more established coins, SafeMoon is a piker.
—Danielle Abril, Fortune, 17 May 2021
The end result could make the architect of the Great Society look like a piker.
—W. James Antle Iii, Washington Examiner, 16 Mar. 2021
If lording such exclusivity over your piker friends who drive 500SLs and 850is is worth the price of a decent house to you, well fine.
—Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 27 May 2020
Cite this Entry
“Piker.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/piker. Accessed 12 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
piker
noun
pik·er
ˈpī-kər 
1
: one who does things on a small scale
especially
: one who gambles with a small amount of money
2
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share