Definition

1. Noun:

   • A domesticated mammal: A pig is a stout-bodied, short-legged mammal with a thick skin, often covered in sparse hair, and a snout used for digging. It is raised for its meat.
   • A person with negative traits: Informally, "pig" can refer to a person who is greedy, dirty, unpleasant, or eats too much.
   • A crude metal block: A mass of metal, especially iron or lead, cast in a simple shape from a smelting furnace.
   • A police officer: (Slang, often derogatory) An uncomplimentary term for a police officer.

2. Verb:

   • To give birth (for swine): Used specifically for a female pig (sow) giving birth to piglets.
   • To eat greedily: To consume food in a ravenous, messy, or gluttonous manner.
   • To live in squalor: To live in a very dirty or untidy condition.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • The farmer raises pigs for pork and bacon.
  • Don't be such a pig—clean up your mess!
  • The factory produced iron pigs for further processing.
  • (Slang) The protesters yelled at the pigs.

• Verb:

  • The sow is expected to pig next week.
  • He pigged on pizza and ice cream all night.
  • The students pigged in their dorm room for months.

Advanced Usage

• "To make a pig of oneself": To overeat; to eat greedily and excessively.

  • At the buffet, I really made a pig of myself.

• "To buy a pig in a poke": To buy something without seeing it or knowing its value, thus risking a bad purchase.

  • Buying a used car online can be like buying a pig in a poke.

• "Pigs might fly": Used to express that something is very unlikely to happen.

  • He'll apologize when pigs fly!

Variants and Related Words

• Piggy (noun, informal): A child's word for a pig or a term of endearment.

  • She has a collection of piggy banks.

• Piglet (noun): A young pig.

  • The piglets followed their mother.

• Pigsty (noun): A pen for pigs; figuratively, a very messy place.

  • His room is a complete pigsty.

• Pig iron (noun): Crude iron as first obtained from a smelting furnace.

  • The plant converts pig iron into steel.

Synonyms

• Noun (animal): Hog, swine, sow (female), boar (male).
• Noun (person): Glutton, slob, sloven.
• Verb (eat): Gorge, devour, gulp, wolf down.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Pig out (on something) (informal): To eat a very large amount of food.
  • We pigged out on popcorn during the movie.

Related Idioms

• "In a pig's eye" (slang, chiefly US): An expression of strong disbelief; nonsense.

  • He said he'd finish it on time? In a pig's eye!

• "Sweat like a pig": To sweat profusely.

  • After running, I was sweating like a pig.

• "When pigs fly": Same as "Pigs might fly," meaning never.

  • I'll believe that when pigs fly.

Noun

1. a crude block of metal (lead or iron) poured from a smelting furnace
2. mold consisting of a bed of sand in which pig iron is cast
3. uncomplimentary terms for a policeman
4. a person regarded as greedy and pig-like
5. a coarse obnoxious person
6. domestic swine

Verb

1. give birth
   • sows farrow
2. eat greedily
   • he devoured three sandwiches
3. live like a pig, in squalor