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pretty penny

noun
/ˌpɹɪti ˈpɛni/UK/ˌpɹɪti ˈpɛni/US

Etymology

From pretty (“(dated) moderately large, considerable”) + penny (“money in general”).

  1. inherited from *panningaz✻
  2. inherited from *panning✻
  3. inherited from peniġ
  4. inherited from peny
  5. compounded as pretty penny — “pretty + penny”

Definitions

  1. Chiefly preceded by a

    Chiefly preceded by a: a considerable amount of money; a high income or price.

    • They could charge a pretty penny as they had a captive audience.
    • VVhy here may be a pretty Penny tovvards, if the Devil don't croſs it.
    • We shall have our branch line—our shares are up, sir—and we buy your three fields along the Brawl, and put a pretty penny into your pocket, Mr. Pendennis.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for pretty penny. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA