pig's wash
Definition
- Noun (uncountable):
- Waste liquid from a kitchen: "pig's wash" refers to the watery mixture of leftover food scraps, dishwater, and other edible refuse, typically collected from a household or restaurant kitchen. It is commonly fed to pigs as a form of animal feed.
Usage Examples
- (The farmer gathers the leftover kitchen waste to feed his pigs.)
- (That greasy water is suitable as feed for pigs.)
Advanced Usage
- "to live on pig's wash": an informal expression meaning to subsist on very poor or meager food, often implying a low standard of living.
- After losing his job, he felt as though he was living on pig's wash. (He was surviving on very basic, unappetizing food.)
Variants and Related Words
Pigwash (n): a synonym for "pig's wash", though slightly less common in modern usage.
- The pigwash was stored in a large bucket near the sty. (The liquid waste for pigs was kept in a container.)
Slop (n): a more general term for liquid or semi-liquid food waste, especially that given to animals.
- The cook threw the slop into the trough for the pigs. (The leftover food waste was fed to the pigs.)
Synonyms
- Swill: another word for kitchen waste or garbage fed to pigs.
- Garbage: general term for waste food, though less specific to pig feeding.
Related Idioms
- "Pig's ear": a different idiom meaning something that is done poorly or messily (e.g., "to make a pig's ear of something").
- He made a pig's ear of the project. (He did it very badly.)