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pigsty

pigsty

16 2.1
A place where pigs live and sleep
  • noun
  • /ˈpɪɡˌstaɪ/
translation icon : pocilga
  • The farmer built a new pigsty to keep his pigs safe and comfortable.

We left the football game and went to a pigsty.

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Examples

  • This place is a pigsty.

  • This whole area looks like a pigsty.

  • Clean up that pigsty of a room.

  • Get in here right now and clean up that pigsty of yours.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • People said when he moved out, the house was a pigsty.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • My place is an absolute pigsty, and I have to do laundry.

    Blog text (31)
  • The place where Nina lived looked like a pigsty.

  • I cannot have a gentleman caller coming into a pigsty.

  • What do you call this I'm livin' in, a pigsty?

  • After attending a funeral, people stop at the pigsty to expel possible evil spirits before entering their main house.

    Academic text (2018)

Synonyms

pigpen
vspigsty
4 2.1

A small fenced area where pigs live

is the same meaning but emphasizes a shelter rather than a pen
sty
vspigsty
2 4.5

A small pen where pigs are kept

is broader and can mean any sized shelter, not only a small one
piggery
vspigsty
1 7.5

A farm or building where people raise pigs

is smaller in scale, referring to a simple shelter rather than a whole farm
hogpen
vspigsty
  • US
2.5

A fenced area where pigs are kept

is similar but focuses on a shelter aspect rather than a general pen

How Big

piggery
1 7.5
pigsty
16 2.1
pen
63 3.5

Surface Forms

pigsty singular
pigsties plural

Morphology

pigsty = pig + sty (transparent) = pig + sty

A direct compound of 'pig' + 'sty'; the meaning 'a pen for pigs' is obvious from its parts.

Etymology

Pigsty is simply two parts: pig and sty, where sty means 'a small pen or shelter for animals'. So a pigsty is a place where pigs are kept, which is why it means an enclosure or shelter for pigs.