Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Informal A pinafore.
  • noun Sports One of a set of uniformly colored, usually sleeveless shirts worn as a temporary team uniform, as when scrimmaging.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pinned; clogged; choked: as, a pinny file.
  • noun A pinafore: a childish or colloquial word.
  • Noting bronze or wrought-iron when it contains a great many hard spots.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A sleeveless dress, often similar to an apron, generally worn over other clothes.
  • noun colloquial A simple jersey worn to denote teams or groups.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a sleeveless dress resembling an apron; worn over other clothing

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Shortened form of pinafore.

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Examples

  • One advantage, of course, in being the newspaper man is that when you have a bad cold, as I have now, you merely tell your wife to bring your typewriter to you in bed, you put it on your "pinny" and the world can proceed on its majestic round; but I have to inflict my cold upon you and all these unseen guests.

    London To Paris To Rome 1939

  • Presently, from his discreet distance, he saw the mother-child going down the road toward Tod's, in her blue 'pinny' and corn-colored hair.

    Complete Project Gutenberg John Galsworthy Works John Galsworthy 1900

  • Presently, from his discreet distance, he saw the mother-child going down the road toward Tod's, in her blue 'pinny' and corn-colored hair.

    The Freelands John Galsworthy 1900

  • Boy, with his "pinny" on, ran off in glee to make himself promiscuously useful, and I sat down to plan an attack.

    The English Governess at the Siamese Court Being Recollections of Six Years in the Royal Palace at Bangkok Anna Harriette Leonowens 1874

  • States to visit her, and the only one she had, had been made into a best "pinny" for the child; she likewise begged a sight in the looking-glass, as she wanted to try on a new cap, to see if it were fixed to her mind.

    Roughing It in the Bush Susanna Moodie 1844

  • Another American squatter was always sending over to borrow a small-tooth comb, which she called a vermin destroyer; and once the same person asked the loan of a towel, as a friend had come from the States to visit her, and the only one she had, had been made into a best "pinny" for the child; she likewise begged a sight in the looking-glass, as she wanted to try on a new cap, to see if it were fixed to her mind.

    Roughing It in the Bush 1852

  • Dorothy, a war widow, is a painfully uptight figure who busies herself with household affairs and who even regards wearing a pinny in front of visitors as a breach of decorum.

    Grief at Cottesloe, London – review | Michael Billington 2011

  • Roberta (fetchingly played by Jenny Agutter in the film, and by Labour's junior transport spokesperson Maria Eagle in the modern version) would whip off her red pinny and go racing down the line to stop the 12.04 Newark to Lincoln flyer.

    The Railway Children explain transport policy Simon Hoggart 2010

  • At the centre is the very fine Sharon Small: fiery and darting, like a fighting cock – not least in the scene where, still in her pinny, she sports her present of a new red hat and is told by her crushing sisters that black would have been much more fitting.

    Men Should Weep; Blasted; When We Are Married Susannah Clapp 2010

  • With trainer Harold Shepherdson dressed in a pinny, hair net and curlers, waking the squad up at seven every morning by vacuuming the passageways; the team doctor, Neil Phillips, tasked with producing officious handwritten signs to stick above light switches; and fresh supplies of doilies flown in every few days, such was the level of familiar discomfort that homesickness among the England players was kept to an absolute minimum.

    All cisterns must be go for England's team at Euro 2012 | Harry Pearson 2011

Comments

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  • Pinafore.

    June 6, 2009