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pig

n. · v.
US //ˈpɪɡ// UK //pˈɪɡ// pig
  1. 1 the animal (n.)
    A1 Beginner Science

    a pink, white, or black farm animal with a large nose and a short tail.

    a mammalian species of the family Suidae, specifically the domesticated Sus domesticus, characterized by a snout and cloven hooves.

    Example

    The farmer kept several pigs in the barn behind the house.

    Example

    The archaeological evidence suggests that pigs were among the first animals to be domesticated by early agricultural societies in the Near East.
  2. 2 greedy person (n.)
    B1 Intermediate Informal

    a person who eats too much or is very messy.

    a derogatory figurative term for an individual perceived as gluttonous, slovenly, or lacking in self-control.

    Example

    Don't be such a pig and leave some pizza for the rest of us.

    Example

    His roommates complained that he was a total pig, leaving dirty dishes in the sink for weeks at a time.
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  1. 3 police officer (n.)
    C1 Advanced Slang Vulgar

    an insulting word for a police officer.

    a highly derogatory slang term for a law enforcement officer, often used in contexts of social or political protest.

    Example

    The protesters were shouting at the pigs standing near the gate.

    Example

    The use of the term 'pig' to describe police officers gained significant cultural traction during the counterculture movements of the late 1960s.
  2. 4 metal block (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Technical Engineering

    a large block of metal, usually iron or lead, that has been poured into a mold.

    an oblong mass of iron or lead that has been cast in a mold for easy transport or further processing.

    Example

    The factory workers moved the heavy pigs of lead onto the truck.

    Example

    Molten iron is tapped from the blast furnace and cast into pigs before being shipped to the steel mill for refinement.
  3. 5 pipeline tool (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Technical Engineering

    a tool used to clean or check the inside of a long pipe.

    a device inserted into a pipeline to perform cleaning, inspection, or batching operations without stopping the flow of the product.

    Example

    The engineers sent a pig through the oil pipe to look for leaks.

    Example

    Modern 'smart pigs' are equipped with sophisticated sensors that can detect internal corrosion or structural weaknesses in high-pressure gas lines.
  4. 6 to eat greedily (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    to eat a lot of food very quickly.

    to consume food in a greedy or gluttonous manner; frequently used in the phrasal verb 'pig out'.

    Example

    We decided to pig out on popcorn and chocolate while watching the movie.

    Example

    After finishing the marathon, she felt she had earned the right to pig out on a massive burger and fries.
  5. 7 to clean a pipe (v.)
    C2 Proficiency Technical Engineering

    to clean a pipe using a special tool.

    to perform a maintenance operation on a pipeline using a mechanical device known as a pig.

    Example

    They need to pig the line once a month to keep it running smoothly.

    Example

    The contractor was hired to pig the entire offshore section of the pipeline to ensure compliance with safety regulations.

    Usage

    The verb is transitive and takes the pipeline as its object.
Etymology 1

From Middle English pigge (“pig, piglet”) (originally a term for a young pig, with adult pigs being swyn (“swine”)), from Old English picga, pycga (attested in picgbrēad (“mast, pig-fodder”)), perhaps a diminutive of Proto-West Germanic puk, pūk (“pig”), which also gave rise to Middle Low German pûke, puyke (“pig, piglet”). Pokorny suggests this root might be somehow related to bū-, bew- (“to blow; swell”), which could account for the alternation between "pig" and "big". Compare Middle Dutch pogge, puggen, pigge, pegsken (> dialectal Dutch pogge (“piglet”)), Middle Low German pugge (> Westphalian German Low German Pogge, Pugge, Püggsken (“pig, piglet”)). A connection to early modern Dutch bigge (modern Dutch big (“piglet”)), West Frisian bigge (“piglet”), German Low German Bigge, Bigg (“piglet”), and Saterland Frisian Bikkie (“piggy”) is sometimes proposed, "but the phonology is difficult". Some sources say the words are "almost certainly not" related, others consider a relation "probable, but not certain". The slang sense of "police officer" is attested since at least 1785.

Etymology 2

Possibly a transferred use of pig, because the vessel was thought to resemble the animal.

Idioms7 entries

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