Word.ws English Dictionary

parish-pump

Syllables: par·ish-pump/ˈpæɹɪʃ ˌpʌmp//ˈpæɹɪʃ ˌpʌmp/

parish-pump adjective: of local interest or significance only; petty, parochial.

Adjective

parish-pump (not comparable)

  1. (UK, dated, derogatory, figuratively, often) Of local interest or significance only; petty, parochial.
    • parish pump politics parish-pump squabbles
    • Never avoid bars or smoke-rooms, because in the former case you miss the chance of marrying a flirt, and in the latter of having your mind improved by local parish-pump politics, and your head broken by a fool in his cups.[1875?], Thomas Bardel Brindley, chapter I, in Hints, Humorous and Satirical, to All the World and His Wife. […], 3rd edition, London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. […], →OCLC, paragraph 7, page 6

Examples of parish-pump in a sentence

  • This study […] pays serious attention to so called parish-pump conflicts in the belief that they performed a fundamental role in shaping opinion in the countryside.1985, P[eter] M[ichael] Jones, “Introduction”, in Politics and Rural Society: The Southern Massif Central c. 1750–1880, Cambridge...
  • The idea of "parish-pump politics" is well known.2016, Michael Böcher, Max Krott, “Case Studies”, in Eduardo Fargas, editor, Science Makes the World Go Round: Successful Scientific...

Origin of parish-pump

From parish + pump, the attributive form of parish pump, alluding to its use as a place where members of a parish meet and talk to each other.

Words formed from parish-pump

Questions about parish-pump

What does parish-pump mean?
Parish-pump means of local interest or significance only; petty, parochial.
How do you use parish-pump in a sentence?
This study […] pays serious attention to so called parish-pump conflicts in the belief that they performed a fundamental role in shaping opinion in the countryside.
What part of speech is parish-pump?
Parish-pump is an adjective.
How do you pronounce parish-pump?
Parish-pump is pronounced /ˈpæɹɪʃ ˌpʌmp/ (UK).

Words near parish-pump in the dictionary

  1. parish registers
  2. parish room
  3. parish rooms
  4. parish school
  5. parish schools
  6. parish-pump
  7. parishad
  8. parishads
  9. parished
  10. parisher
  11. parishers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: parish-pump (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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