Word.ws English Dictionary

turning an honest penny

turning an honest penny is the present participle and gerund of turn an honest penny.

Meaning of turn an honest penny

Verb

turn an honest penny (third-person singular simple present turns an honest penny, present participle turning an honest penny, simple past and past participle turned an honest penny)

  1. To earn money by honest methods.
    • My client is an infant, a poor foreign immigrant who started scratch as a stowaway and is now trying to turn an honest penny.1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[15]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC

Questions about turning an honest penny

What is turning an honest penny the present participle and gerund of?
Turning an honest penny is the present participle and gerund of turn an honest penny.

Words near turning an honest penny in the dictionary

  1. turning a setback into a comeback
  2. turning a trick
  3. turning about
  4. turning again
  5. turning against
  6. turning an honest penny
  7. turning approver
  8. turning approvers
  9. turning around
  10. turning around one's finger
  11. turning aside

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: turning an honest penny (page history and authors); turn an honest penny (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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