Adjacent Words

pigeonhole definitions

	Tweet

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a specific (often simplistic) category
2: a small compartment [syn: cubbyhole, pigeonhole] v
1: place into a small compartment
2: treat or classify according to a mental stereotype; "I was stereotyped as a lazy Southern European" [syn: pigeonhole, stereotype, stamp]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Date: 1577 1. a hole or small recess for pigeons to nest 2. a small open compartment (as in a desk or cabinet) for keeping letters or documents 3. a neat category which usually fails to reflect actual complexities II. transitive verb Date: 1840 1. a. to place in or as if in the pigeonhole of a desk b. to lay aside ; shelve <his reports continued to be pigeonholed and his advice not taken — Walter Mills> 2. to assign to an often restrictive category ; classify • pigeonholer noun

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pigeonhole Pi"geon*hole`, n. A small compartment in a desk or case for the keeping of letters, documents, etc.; -- so called from the resemblance of a row of them to the compartments in a dovecote. --Burke.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pigeonhole Pi"geon*hole`, v. t. To place in the pigeonhole of a case or cabinet; hence, to put away; to lay aside indefinitely; as, to pigeonhole a letter or a report.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

see pigeon-hole

Moby Thesaurus

adjourn, air hole, alphabetize, analyze, armhole, arrange, assort, bibliography, blood, blowhole, book, bracket, branch, break down, bullet-hole, bunghole, calendar, card catalog, caste, catalog, catalogue raisonne, categorize, category, clan, class, classified catalog, classify, codify, constitute, continue, cringle, cubby, cubbyhole, deadeye, decree, defer, delay, digest, divide, division, doghouse, drag out, enact, enact laws, enroll, enter, enumerate, estate, extend, eye, eyelet, file, filibuster, filing system, finding list, gasket, get the floor, grade, grommet, group, grouping, guide, handlist, hang fire, hang up, have the floor, head, heading, hold off, hold over, hold up, hole, identify, impanel, index, inventory, itemize, keep score, keyhole, kill, kin, knothole, label, lay aside, lay away, lay by, lay over, league, legislate, letter file, level, list, lobby through, logroll, loop, loophole, manhole, mousehole, name, niche, ordain, order, pass, peephole, pigeonholes, pinch, pinhole, place, placket, placket hole, playhouse, pocket, porthole, position, post, postpone, predicament, program, prolong, prorogate, prorogue, protract, punch-hole, push aside, put aside, put away, put in force, put in mothballs, put off, put on ice, put through, race, railroad through, range, rank, rate, rating, recess, register, reserve, roll logs, rubric, schedule, score, section, sept, set, set aside, set by, shelve, shift off, sideline, sleep on, slot, sort, spiracle, stand over, station, status, stave off, stay, store, stow, strain, stratum, stretch out, subdivide, subdivision, subgroup, suborder, suspend, table, table the motion, tabulate, take a recess, take the floor, tally, tap, tier, tight spot, tight squeeze, title, type, vent, venthole, veto, waive, yield the floor