pig
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The edible meat of such an animal.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pigIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɪɡ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
uncountable
The edible meat of such an animal; pork.
specifically
A young swine, a piglet (contrasted with a hog, an adult swine).
specifically
Domestic swine
A person regarded as greedy and pig-like
uncountable
A light pinkish-red colour, like that of a pig (also called pig pink).
countable and uncountable
An oblong block of cast metal (now only iron or lead).
verb
Eat greedily
intransitive
To greedily consume (especially food).
Give birth to (piglets)
of swine
To give birth.
intransitive
To huddle or lie together like pigs, in one bed.
intransitive
To live together in a crowded filthy manner.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Any of several mammalian species of the family Suidae, having cloven hooves, bristles and a snout adapted for digging; especially the domesticated animal Sus domesticus.
Used this way, pig is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
- Family/home
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use pig
- “Some religions prohibit their adherents from eating pig.”noun
- “You gluttonous pig! Now that you've eaten all the cupcakes, there will be none for the party!”noun
- “She considered him a pig as he invariably stared at her bosom when they talked.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A kitchen appliance for disposing of garbage.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.