Word.ws English Dictionary

chase pennies with dollars

US/t͡ʃeɪs ˈpɛniz wɪð ˈdɑlɚz/

chase pennies with dollars verb: to expend more money or effort in gaining something (especially, a cost reduction or revenue addition) than it is worth.

Verb

chase pennies with dollars (third-person singular simple present chases pennies with dollars, present participle chasing pennies with dollars, simple past and past participle chased pennies with dollars)

  1. (US) To expend more money or effort in gaining something (especially, a cost reduction or revenue addition) than it is worth.
    • “I believe we’re being asked to chase pennies with dollars, and it will cost the taxpayers.”2015, Glen Gainer, Charleston Gazette-Mail, State employee pay switch plan placed on hold
    • "Irrational Greed: Chasing Pennies With Dollars"2012, L.G. Weinzimmer, J. McConoughey, The Wisdom of Failure: How to Learn the Tough Leadership Lessons Without Paying the Price

Forms of chase pennies with dollars

third-person singular presentchases pennies with dollars
present participlechasing pennies with dollars
past participlechased pennies with dollars
pastchased pennies with dollars

Origin of chase pennies with dollars

References the foolhardy nature of spending more money, resources, or time, in order to earn or save lesser amounts. Chiefly used within the United States, in business and finance settings and media.

Questions about chase pennies with dollars

What does chase pennies with dollars mean?
Chase pennies with dollars means to expend more money or effort in gaining something (especially, a cost reduction or revenue addition) than it is worth.
What part of speech is chase pennies with dollars?
Chase pennies with dollars is a verb.
How do you pronounce chase pennies with dollars?
Chase pennies with dollars is pronounced /t͡ʃeɪs ˈpɛniz wɪð ˈdɑlɚz/ (US).
What is the past tense of chase pennies with dollars?
The past tense of chase pennies with dollars is chased pennies with dollars.

Words near chase pennies with dollars in the dictionary

  1. chase guns
  2. chase moonbeams
  3. chase off
  4. chase one's own tail
  5. chase one's tail
  6. chase pennies with dollars
  7. chase plane
  8. chase planes
  9. chase port
  10. chase ports
  11. chase rainbows

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: chase pennies with dollars (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “chase pennies with dollars.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chase_pennies_with_dollars. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.