swinery
Definition
- Noun:
- A pigsty or piggery: "swinery" refers to a place where pigs are kept, such as a pen, sty, or farm enclosure for swine.
- Coarse or brutish behavior (figurative, rare): "swinery" can also describe behavior that is considered piggish, vulgar, or gluttonous, likened to the habits of swine.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- The farmer cleaned the swinery every morning to keep the pigs healthy. (A physical enclosure for pigs.)
- His table manners were such a swinery that no one wanted to dine with him. (Figurative use: behavior reminiscent of pigs.)
Advanced Usage
- "to wallow in swinery": to indulge in dirty or morally low behavior, derived from pigs wallowing in mud.
- After the scandal, the politician seemed to wallow in swinery, ignoring all decency. (To engage in corrupt or vulgar conduct.)
Variants and Related Words
- Swine (n): a pig; also a contemptible person.
- The swine left the kitchen in a mess. (The pig; or, figuratively, the rude person.)
- Swinish (adj): resembling or characteristic of swine; coarse or brutish.
- His swinish appetite for food was shocking. (Gluttonous and uncouth.)
Synonyms
- Pigsty: a literal enclosure for pigs.
- Piggery: a place where pigs are bred or kept.
- Hogpen: a pen for hogs (American English).
Related Idioms
- "Cast pearls before swine": to offer something valuable to someone who cannot appreciate it.
- Giving that rare book to him was like casting pearls before swine. (He has no taste or understanding.)
- "Live like a pig in clover": to live in luxury but with coarse habits (not a direct idiom with "swinery," but related to swine imagery).