pigeonhole
Syllables: pi·geon·holeUK/ˈpɪdʒ(ɪ)nhəʊl//ˈpɪdʒənˌ(h)oʊl/
pigeonhole noun: one of an array of open compartments for housing pigeons in a dovecote or pigeon loft.
Noun
pigeonhole (plural pigeonholes)
- One of an array of open compartments for housing pigeons in a dovecote or pigeon loft.
- Holonyms: pigeon loft, dovecote, columbary, columbarium
- A hole or opening in a door or wall for a pigeon to pass through.
- The loft was lighted by a semicircular hole, though which the pigeons crept to their lodgings in the same high quarters of the premises; […] 'Dear Clym, I wonder how your face looks now?' she said, gazing abstractedly at the pigeon-hole, which admitted the sunlight so directly upon her brown hair...1878 January–December, Thomas Hardy, “The People at Blooms-End Make Ready”, in The Return of the Native […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], published 1878, →OCLC, book II (The Arrival)...
- One of an array of open compartments in a desk, set of shelves, etc., used for sorting or storing letters, papers, or other items.
- Abbé [Emmanuel Joseph] Sieyès has vvhole neſts of pigeon-holes full of conſtitutions ready made, ticketed, ſorted, and numbered; ſuited to every ſeaſon and every fancy; […]1796, Edmund Burke, A Letter from the Right Honourable Edmund Burke to a Noble Lord, on the Attacks Made upon Him and His Pension, […], London: […] J. Owen, […], and F[rancis] and C[harles]...
- Blank ink and red ink, pounce, wafers, wax, pens, seals, imbibing-paper, rulers, files, were all there; pegs for hats, shelves and hooks, pigeon-holes full of samples of sugar, of rice, tobacco, coffee, and the like: all the dull paraphernalia of a trader's elaboratory.1862, George Augustus Sala, “The Ship-chandler. A Story of a Seaport One Hundred Years Ago. Chapter III. Evil upon Evil.”, in The Ship Chandler and Other Tales, London: Ward and Lock, […], →OCLC...
- Synonyms:
- cubbyhole
- One of an array of open compartments for receiving mail and other messages at a college, office, etc.
- Fred was disappointed to find his pigeonhole empty except for bills and a flyer offering 20% off on manicures.
- [H]e walked across Hawthorn Tree Court on his way to the porter's lodge. […] At the lodge he cleared his pigeon-hole.1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 39
- A compartment or cubicle in a room or other place, especially one which is (excessively) small.
- The general size of a store in Tangier is about that of an ordinary shower-bath in a civilized land. […] You can rent a whole block of these pigeon-holes for fifty dollars a month.1869, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter VIII, in The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims’ Progress; […], Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company. […], →OCLC, page 80
- A small opening for looking or passing things through.
- However, as my friend came dodging towards my door, I saw him through the usual pigeon hole through which warders speak to their prisoners.1962, Kenneth D[avid] Kaunda, “Prison”, in Zambia shall be Free: An Autobiography (African Writers Series; 4), London; Melbourne, Vic.: Heinemann Educational Books, →OCLC, page 127
- A form of stocks with openings for restraining a person's hands or feet; also, one of the openings in the device.
- [D]ovvne vvith him in his Maieſties name, dovvne, dovvne vvith him, and carry him avvay, to the pigeon-holes.1614 November 10 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Beniamin Iohnson [i.e., Ben Jonson], Bartholmew Fayre: A Comedie, […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot, […], published 1631...
- A seat in the top row of the gallery of a theatre.
- The Play is done: For from the Pigeon-hole / I heard them hiſs the Curtain as it fell.1732 June 12 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [Henry Fielding], The Covent-Garden Tragedy. […], London: […] J[ohn] Watts, and sold by J. Roberts […], published 5 July 1732, →OCLC, Act I...
- A notional category or class into which someone or something is placed.
- The Beat writers had very different styles and disliked the invented term and pigeonhole forced upon them.2007 September 7, David Mills, “Do we need to keep the Beats in their box?”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14...
- Amazon's new pigeonhole for books about unmarried females is far more old-fashioned than the 'New Woman novel' tag deployed in the 19th century2018 May 4, Kaite Welsh, “‘Single women fiction’: how a genre went from subversive to sad”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the...
- Synonyms:
- box
- A space between two words that is too wide.
- Theſe vvide VVhites are by Compoſiters (in vvay of Scandal) call'd Pidgeon-holes, and are by none accounted good VVorkmanſhip, unleſs in ſuch caſes of neceſſity, as aforeſaid. […] And if he [a compositor] Sets too VVide, and he chance to Set a VVord to tvvo tvvice over, he may be forc'd to make...1683, Joseph Moxon, “Numb[er] XIV. Applied to the Compositers Trade.”, in Mechanick Exercises: Or, The Doctrine of Handy-Works. Applied to the Art of Printing. […], volume II, London: […] Joseph...
Verb
pigeonhole (third-person singular simple present pigeonholes, present participle pigeonholing, simple past and past participle pigeonholed)
- To construct pigeonholes (noun sense 1 or 3.1) in (a place); also, to subdivide (a place) into pigeonholes.
- That study is still in its infancy, and our theories on the subjects with which it deals must probably for a long time to come be tentative and provisional, mere pigeon-holes in which temporarily to sort the multitude of facts, not iron moulds in which to cast them for ever.1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page ix
- I had proposed to pigeon-hole the walls of the drawing-room for the reception of the dictionary material.1879, J[ames] A[ugustus] H[enry] Murray, Address to the Philological Society; quoted in “Pigeon-hole, v.”, in James A[ugustus] H[enry] Murray [et al.], editors, A New English Dictionary on Historical...
- To put (letters, papers, or other items) into pigeonholes or small compartments; also, to arrange or sort (items) by putting into pigeonholes.
- I would rather have my ashes scattered over the soil, to help the growth of the grass and daisies; but still I should not murmur much at having them decently pigeon-holed in a Roman tomb.1858 March 3 (date written), Nathaniel Hawthorne, “March 3rd, [1858]”, in Passages from the French and Italian Note-books of Nathaniel Hawthorne, volume I, London: Strahan & Co., […], published 1871...
- To arrange (items) for future reference or use.
- To put aside (advice, a proposal, or other matter) for future consideration instead of acting on it immediately; to shelve.
- [S]everal laws and regulations were enacted for the prevention of cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery, and diphtheria. These laws were not carried into effect: they were pigeon-holed.1910, Angus Hamilton, Herbert H[enry] Austin, Masatake Terauchi, “Sanitation and Water Works”, in Korea: Its History, Its People, and Its Commerce (Oriental Series; XIII), Boston, Mass.; Tokyo: J. B....
- This year, and in former years, politicians have set up that they were cheated, and have vociferously declared that they had the evidence. But no one prosecutes. No one swears out a warrant. The evidence is pigeonholed.1917 November, “The Looking Glass: Election Laws in Southern California”, in W[illiam] E[dward] Burghardt Du Bois, editor, The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races, volume 15, number 1 (number 85...
- To place (someone or something) into a notional category or class, especially in a way which makes unjustified assumptions or which is restrictive; to categorize, to classify, to label.
- Fred was tired of being pigeonholed as a computer geek.
- He prided himself on his largeness when he granted that there were three kinds of women […] Not that he pigeon-holed Frona according to his inherited definitions. He refused to classify her at all. He did not dare.1902 October, Jack London, chapter VII, in A Daughter of the Snows, Philadelphia, Pa.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC, page 74
- Synonyms:
- cubbyhole, put someone in a box
pigeonhole meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
pigeonhole in Tamil
- உள்ளறை
pigeonhole in Urdu
- one of an array of open compartments for housing pigeons in a dovecote
- کابک kābuk
pigeonhole in Malayalam
- categorization, category, class
- പ്രാക്കൂട്ടുദ്വാരം, പ്രത്യേകഅറ, വകുപ്പ്, വർഗ്ഗം, ഇനം, തരം
- compartmentalize, categorize, classify
- കള്ളിതിരിക്കുക, വകതിരിക്കുക, ഇനം തിരിക്കുക, വർഗ്ഗങ്ങളായി തിരിക്കുക, ചേരിയാക്കുക, കൂട്ടമാക്കുക
- put off, postpone, put back
- മാറ്റിവയ്ക്കുക, നീട്ടിവയ്ക്കുക, പിന്നത്തേക്കാക്കുക, മരവിപ്പിക്കുക, അരികിലേക്കുമാറ്റുക, നീക്കിവയ്ക്കുക
pigeonhole in Kannada
- ಖಾನೆ, ಗೂಡು, ಅಲಮಾರುಗೂಡು
Examples of pigeonhole in a sentence
- Most bills that are pigeonholed in this manner receive no further action.2004, Edward Sidlow, Beth Henschen, America at Odds, 4th edition, Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, →ISBN, page 260:
- I'm not gonna be able, to top on My Name Is / And pigeonholed into some poppy sensation1998–2000 (date recorded), Marshall Mathers, “The Way I Am”, in The Marshall Mathers LP, performed by Eminem, Santa Monica, Calif....
Synonyms of pigeonhole
Forms of pigeonhole
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | pigeonholes |
| alternative form | pigeon-hole |
| alternative form | pigeon hole |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | pigeonholes |
| present participle | pigeonholing |
| past participle | pigeonholed |
| past | pigeonholed |
Origin of pigeonhole
The noun is derived from pigeon + hole. The verb is derived from the noun.
Words formed from pigeonhole
Phrases with pigeonhole
Questions about pigeonhole
- What does pigeonhole mean?
- Pigeonhole means one of an array of open compartments for housing pigeons in a dovecote or pigeon loft.
- What is pigeonhole in Tamil?
- Pigeonhole in Tamil is உள்ளறை. See Pigeonhole meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use pigeonhole in a sentence?
- Most bills that are pigeonholed in this manner receive no further action.
- What part of speech is pigeonhole?
- Pigeonhole can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce pigeonhole?
- Pigeonhole is pronounced /ˈpɪdʒ(ɪ)nhəʊl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of pigeonhole?
- The plural of pigeonhole is pigeonholes.
Words near pigeonhole in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pigeonhole (page history and authors); pigeonhole (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pigeonhole (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); pigeonhole (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-pigeonhole.ogg.
Cite this entry: “pigeonhole.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pigeonhole. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.