What (who) is penny-pinching - definition

Penny (Scots); Scots penny

penny-pinching

¦ adjective unwilling to spend money; miserly.

¦ noun miserliness.

Derivatives

penny-pincher noun

penny-pinching

Penny-pinching is the practice of trying to spend as little money as possible.

Government penny-pinching is blamed for the decline in food standards.

N-UNCOUNT [disapproval]

Penny-pinching people spend as little money as possible.

...small-minded penny-pinching administrators.

ADJ [disapproval]

Penny sterling

BRITISH DECIMAL ONE PENNY COIN

British coin One Penny; New penny; 1p coin; British One Penny Coin; British One Penny coin; New pence; British one penny coin; One penny (British coin); Penny sterling

The penny sterling or penny (symbol: p; plural: pence) is a subdivision of pound sterling, the currency for the United Kingdom. It is currently of a pound; before UK currency was decimalized on 15 February 1971, the symbol used for a penny was d (from Latin denarius) and referred to a physically larger but less valuable coin worth of a shilling, which is of a pound.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_sterling

Wikipedia

Penny Scots

The Penny Scots was a unit of the Pound Scots, the currency of Scotland until the Acts of Union 1707. The word "penny" (Scottish Gaelic: peighinn, but see below) was used in Scottish parlance for money generally; for example, a "penny-fee" was an expression for wages, a "penny-maister" would be a town treasurer, and a "penny-wedding" was one where every guest contributed to pay for the event. Meanwhile, "penny-wheep" was particularly poor beer.

My riches a’s my penny-fee,
And I maun guide it canny, O.
— Burns, My Nannie, O

The older Scottish Gaelic word for penny was peighinn. The modern form is sgillinn, literally shilling, which reflects the fact that at the Union with England in 1707, the exchange rate was fixed at twelve Pounds Scots to one Pound Sterling so one shilling Scots exchanged for one English penny.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny Scots

Pronunciation examples for penny-pinching

1. of being penny pinching, you know.

Scribe - My Life in Sports _ Bob Ryan _ Talks at Google

2. You're not caught up in endless penny-pinching.

How to Afford Anything _ Paula Pant _ Talks at Google

Examples of use of penny-pinching

1. "What Charles Clarke is talking about is probably a penny–pinching vote–catching exercise.

2. Mr Burnham said: "This is not an exercise in penny pinching or cutting corners.

3. Is multimillionaire John Caudwell fabulously extravagant, or a penny–pinching miser?

4. This penny–pinching may make sense to auditors, but it translates into huge costs for society.

5. Yet that chance is denied them, because the Government and its penny–pinching agencies won‘t find 2.50 a day.