pigeonhole
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpɪdʒ(ɪ)nhəʊl/
ipa: /ˈpɪdʒənˌ(h)oʊl/
Forms: form: pigeonholes
form: pigeon-hole
form: pigeon hole
Etymology: The noun is derived from pigeon + hole. The verb is derived from the noun.
Senses: glosses: One of an array of open compartments for housing pigeons in a dovecote or pigeon loft.
examples: text: The loft was lighted by a semicircular hole, though which the pigeons crept to their lodgings in the same high quarters of the premises; […] 'Dear Clym, I wonder how your face looks now?' she said, gazing abstractedly at the pigeon-hole, which admitted the sunlight so directly upon her brown hair and transparent tissues that it almost seemed to shine through her.
ref: 1878 January–December, Thomas Hardy, “The People at Blooms-End Make Ready”, in The Return of the Native […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], published 1878, →OCLC, book II (The Arrival), pages 246–248:
glosses: A hole or opening in a door or wall for a pigeon to pass through.
examples: text: Abbé [Emmanuel Joseph] Sieyès has vvhole neſts of pigeon-holes full of conſtitutions ready made, ticketed, ſorted, and numbered; ſuited to every ſeaſon and every fancy; […]
ref: 1796, Edmund Burke, A Letter from the Right Honourable Edmund Burke to a Noble Lord, on the Attacks Made upon Him and His Pension, […], London: […] J. Owen, […], and F[rancis] and C[harles] Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 63:
text: Blank ink and red ink, pounce, wafers, wax, pens, seals, imbibing-paper, rulers, files, were all there; pegs for hats, shelves and hooks, pigeon-holes full of samples of sugar, of rice, tobacco, coffee, and the like: all the dull paraphernalia of a trader's elaboratory.
ref: 1862, George Augustus Sala, “The Ship-chandler. A Story of a Seaport One Hundred Years Ago. Chapter III. Evil upon Evil.”, in The Ship Chandler and Other Tales, London: Ward and Lock, […], →OCLC, page 48:
text: This has been fitted with blocks of pigeon-holes, 1029 in number, for the reception of the alphabetically arranged slips.
ref: 1879, J[ames] A[ugustus] H[enry] Murray, Address to the Philological Society, page 8; quoted in “Pigeon-hole, sb.”, in James A[ugustus] H[enry] Murray [et al.], editors, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumes VII (O–P), London: Clarendon Press, 1884–1928, →OCLC, page 846, column 3:
synonyms: cubbyhole
glosses: One of an array of open compartments in a desk, set of shelves, etc., used for sorting and/or storing letters, papers, or other items.
examples: text: Fred was disappointed to find his pigeonhole empty except for bills and a flyer offering 20% off on manicures.
text: [H]e walked across Hawthorn Tree Court on his way to the porter's lodge. […] At the lodge he cleared his pigeon-hole.
ref: 1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 39:
synonyms: cubbyhole
glosses: One of an array of open compartments in a desk, set of shelves, etc., used for sorting and/or storing letters, papers, or other items.
One of an array of open compartments for receiving mail and other messages at a college, office, etc.
examples: text: The general size of a store in Tangier is about that of an ordinary shower-bath in a civilized land. […] You can rent a whole block of these pigeon-holes for fifty dollars a month.
ref: 1869, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter VIII, in The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims’ Progress; […], Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company. […], →OCLC, page 80:
glosses: A compartment or cubicle in a room or other place, especially one which is (excessively) small.
examples: text: However, as my friend came dodging towards my door, I saw him through the usual pigeon hole through which warders speak to their prisoners.
ref: 1962, Kenneth D[avid] Kaunda, “Prison”, in Zambia shall be Free: An Autobiography (African Writers Series; 4), London; Melbourne, Vic.: Heinemann Educational Books, →OCLC, page 127:
glosses: A small opening for looking or passing things through.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A small opening for looking or passing things through.
An opening in a ship for passing equipment such as an oar or rigging through.
examples: text: [D]ovvne vvith him in his Maieſties name, dovvne, dovvne vvith him, and carry him avvay, to the pigeon-holes.
ref: 1614 November 10 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Beniamin Iohnson [i.e., Ben Jonson], Bartholmew Fayre: A Comedie, […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot, […], published 1631, →OCLC, Act IIII, scene iv, page 61:
glosses: A form of stocks with openings for restraining a person's hands or feet; also, one of the openings in the device.
examples: text: The Play is done: For from the Pigeon-hole / I heard them hiſs the Curtain as it fell.
ref: 1732 June 12 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [Henry Fielding], The Covent-Garden Tragedy. […], London: […] J[ohn] Watts, and sold by J. Roberts […], published 5 July 1732, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 2:
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
theater
glosses: A seat in the top row of the gallery of a theatre.
examples: text: The Beat writers had very different styles and disliked the invented term and pigeonhole forced upon them.
ref: 2007 September 7, David Mills, “Do we need to keep the Beats in their box?”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Apr 2023:
text: Amazon's new pigeonhole for books about unmarried females is far more old-fashioned than the 'New Woman novel' tag deployed in the 19th century
ref: 2018 May 4, Kaite Welsh, “‘Single women fiction’: how a genre went from subversive to sad”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Jul 2024:
synonyms: box
glosses: A notional category or class into which someone or something is placed.
examples: text: Theſe vvide VVhites are by Compoſiters (in vvay of Scandal) call'd Pidgeon-holes, and are by none accounted good VVorkmanſhip, unleſs in ſuch caſes of neceſſity, as aforeſaid. […] And if he [a compositor] Sets too VVide, and he chance to Set a VVord to tvvo tvvice over, he may be forc'd to make Pidgeon-holes e're he come to a Break, […]
ref: 1683, Joseph Moxon, “Numb[er] XIV. Applied to the Compositers Trade.”, in Mechanick Exercises: Or, The Doctrine of Handy-Works. Applied to the Art of Printing. […], volume II, London: […] Joseph Moxon […], →OCLC, § 4 (Of Composing), page 215:
topics: media
publishing
typography
glosses: A space between two words that is too wide.
Derived terms: english: Oxbridge slang
translation: Oxbridge slang
word: pidge
word: pigeonhole principle
word: pigeonholes