pimp

1 of 2

noun

: a criminal who is associated with, usually exerts control over, and lives off the earnings of one or more prostitutes

pimp

2 of 2

verb

pimped; pimping; pimps

transitive verb

1
: to make use of often dishonorably for one's own gain or benefit
2
informal : to customize and adorn (something, such as a car or apartment) in an ostentatious or lavish way
Their backhoe had four spotlights on a bar above the cab, the same way kids pimped their pick-up trucks, and together the four beams made a wide pool of halogen brightness.Lee Child
often used with out
This is a parallel world where teenagers pimp out their motorboats, customizing them with dazzling LED lights and powerful stereo systems …Leo Barraclough
Foreign buyers—many of them anonymous—have poured cash into Miami's real-estate market for years. Think mansions priced at over $20 million, condos pimped out with private rooftop pools, and spec houses with wild extras.Raisa Bruner

intransitive verb

: to work as a pimp

Examples of pimp in a Sentence

Noun the sting operation nabbed 15 prostitutes and two pimps Verb a movie actress who pimped everybody she ever met as she clawed her way to the top
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Martin operated as both Odom and Anderson's pimp, the attorney's office said in the statement. Samira Asma-Sadeque, Peoplemag, 6 Mar. 2024 That’s a play, of course, on Stagger Lee, the nickname of a notorious pimp and gambler whose myth exceeded his cultural impact. Ken Makin, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 Mar. 2024 Fox News Digital reached out to the governor’s office this week regarding a business owner saying pimps have taken over a neighborhood in San Diego by leveraging the fear of retaliation in exchange for locals’ silence on the bevy of nearly-naked women walking the streets. Emma Colton, Fox News, 9 Feb. 2024 While trying to collect funds owed to him by a local pimp named Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), Fontaine is shot and killed — but that doesn't stop him from showing up on Slick's doorstep the next day to collect his money. Randall Colburn, EW.com, 25 Jan. 2024 John Boyega is a drug dealer, Jamie Foxx a pimp and Teyonah Parris a prostitute who uncover an elaborate scheme of a shadowy elite conducting experiments on the inhabitants of a black neighborhood, using thought control via everything from fried chicken to hair salons. Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Jan. 2024 Hoping to reveal the absurdity of such writing, Monk publishes it under the pseudonym Stagg R. Leigh (a play on the real-life 19th-century Black pimp nicknamed Stagger Leigh), and much to his dismay, the book becomes the biggest hit of his career. Salamishah Tillet, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2024 But all the targets seem to see something different: a werewolf, Freddy Krueger, a wasp man, a violent pimp, even the Hantavirus. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 10 Sep. 2023 Armstrong and the Guggenheim were unfairly targeted by still more race pimps during the Black Lives Matter tantrum and mass hallucination. Brian T. Allen, National Review, 14 Dec. 2023
Verb
The alleged man in charge, 60-year-old Jianhua Chen, was charged with pimping and running a house of prostitution, both felonies. Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 19 Feb. 2024 Prosecutors charged him on Jan. 16 with pimping and pandering by encouraging, both felonies. Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 7 Feb. 2024 In a bid to convince workers that commuting into an office to do the very same job—except under the beady eyes of the boss—is worth their while, employers have been pimping up their workplaces with better coffee machines, living walls, and the latest tech equipment. Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 9 Jan. 2024 About a year after his release, a woman Huerta was pimping solicited two men, Octavio Cardozo and Guadalupe Nunez, who were working on a car on Blinn Avenue, according to a parole commissioner’s account of the crime. Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 26 Dec. 2023 California Highway Patrol officers arrested Ornelas last month on suspicion of multiple charges including pimping and pandering, being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing drugs for sale and while armed. Tammy Murga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 July 2023 Fisker, knowing this is a killer feature, has even been sensible enough to pimp the stereo system, too, provided by ELS Studio. WIRED, 31 July 2023 No one who cares about you could support your being pimped … and that includes you yourself. Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 28 July 2023 The stuff about keeping women in their place, pimping them on OnlyFans — all of that, his fans see as window dressing to the central message, of maintaining power and control in the face of an increasingly unstable and uncertain world. Ioana Erdei, Rolling Stone, 26 Jan. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pimp.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

probably akin to British dialect pimp small bundle of sticks, Middle English pymple papule, German Pimpf young boy, kid, literally, little fart, Pumpf, Pumps fart

First Known Use

Noun

1701, in the meaning defined above

Verb

circa 1640, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of pimp was circa 1640

Dictionary Entries Near pimp

Cite this Entry

“Pimp.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pimp. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Legal Definition

pimp

1 of 2 noun
: one who derives income from the earnings of a prostitute usually by soliciting business compare panderer

pimp

2 of 2 intransitive verb
: to work as a pimp compare pandering
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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