Definition of penny in English:

penny

nounPlural pennies, Plural pence ˈpɛniˈpɛni

1A British bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a pound.
便士（英国铜硬币和货币单位，100便士等于1英镑）
calls are charged at fifty pence a minute
as modifier a fifty-pence piece
Example sentencesExamples
- Find a meal more nutritious than steamed broccoli and rice, but without going over my fifty pence dinner budget.
- He had pencilled a price of four pounds and fifty pence onto the first page.
- It is difficult to estimate the costs of printed portraits, but popular ballads sold for between a half penny and a penny between 1520-1640.
- Fifty pence goes in the slot, nasty plastic opera goggles come out.
- Within two years of such a vote, pounds and pence could be going the same way as guilders and pfennigs.
- He held out his hand and showed me a fifty pence and ten pence coin and said ‘All I want is a cup of tea.’
- With slaughter fees of eight or nine pounds each, the buyers maintained that they could find around fifty pence in profit on each animal.
- Hospital patients are being charged four pence a minute for internet connection time.
- Or to be precise, one thousand, nine hundred and seventy-nine pounds, twenty-four pence.
- Even more shocking than their aggrandizement of linguistic power is their evident ignorance of how English, the language of pounds and pennies, dollars and cents, works.
- Couldn't they have just asked for the fifty pence (or whatever the price of the croutons was).
- Stamps on sale ranged in price from a few pennies to many hundreds of pounds each.
- Suddenly, asking fifty pence for a cassette seems an act somewhere well to the left of folly.
- She pressed a fifty pence piece into my hand and told me to go to the jukebox and put on song number 10 from cd number 3.
- Thus, in the other envelope today, was a cheque for fifty pounds and forty one pence.
- He gave me a miserable little cornet and charged me the full fifty pence.
- The total sum due was one hundred and four pounds and eight pence.
- Soon he is sneaking off to dance practice, pretending that his fifty pence are still going for boxing.
- Fifty pence from each bottle bought will go to the trust's ancient tree hunt, a project to save rare, ancient trees in the UK.
- They also included a selection of threepenny bits, a 1916 halfpenny and a penny piece from 1921.
1. 1.1 A former British coin and monetary unit equal to one twelfth of a shilling and 240th of a pound.
  便士（英国铜硬币和货币单位，100便士等于1英镑）
  Example sentencesExamples
  The wickedly funny show is set in the days of pounds, shillings and pence, tin baths and condensed-milk butties.
  Buy a little book ruled for the purpose for pounds, shillings and pence and keep an account of cash received and expended.
  He continued writing something in a ledger, balancing columns of pounds, shillings and pence.
  The teenager quickly added up the long columns of pounds, shillings and pence, scoring top marks.
  Payment was made in cash of the pounds, shillings and pence variety and the ‘luck penny’ handed over.
  Prior to decimalization, the pound was divided into twenty shillings, each shilling into twelve pennies and each penny into four farthings.
  I'll take anything, even old pennies from the pound shilling and pence era.
  There were twenty shillings in a pound and twelve pence in a shilling.
  Before 1971 there were 240 pennies in a pound, 12 pennies in a shilling, and maths lessons were a lot more difficult.
  It will be little different from when we scrapped pounds, shillings and pence and switched to the decimal system.
2. 1.2North American informal A one-cent coin.
  〈北美，非正式〉一分面额的硬币
  Example sentencesExamples
  You wouldn't be able to tell whether a web page costs a penny or a hundred dollars to visit.
  By now, every person who had been watching was at once confident that there were no coins left and curious as to why someone would bother to carry around exactly four hundred fifty pennies.
  ‘A hundred pennies make a dollar,’ my father would say, encouraging me to surrender the coin in my hand to a narrow slot in the head of a porcelain pig.
  Staring down into it you could see the shiny bronze pennies and silver dimes lying at the bottom.
  The getter collects all the materials needed for the activity, which include shaving cream, 2 paper towels, and a penny.
  To make things easier, the penny will also go up in value one cent each year until it is worth five cents.
3. 1.3 (in biblical use) a denarius.
  〈圣经〉迪纳里厄斯（古罗马的金币或银币）
  Example sentencesExamples
  I'd rather die without a penny in my pocket than be anything less than what I am as a Jew and as a human being.
  Let the widow give her penny and the laborer his wage.
  He will preach and say, you might be a rich man and you are without avarice, or you might be a poor person with only a penny in your pocket and you might be avaricious because you desire to be wealthy.
  There is the man who yearned for eternal life but was terribly attached to his own possessions, and the poor widow who put her last penny in the treasury.
  Instead of throwing the penny in the miser's face, as others had done, Rabbi Schneur Zalman thanked the man politely and turned to leave.
2a pennyA small sum of money.
一小笔钱
any chance to save a few pennies is welcome
在当前的经济形势下，任何能省一些小钱的机会都是受欢迎的。
Example sentencesExamples
- A penny here and a penny there added up to some very real money last year at 30 Seattle-area schools.
- Add up all those measly little pennies and the total cost for one slice of pizza comes to 78 cents.
- Last time I checked, most glass lenses cost more than pennies.
- I tell them how the butcher's van would stop outside my parents' house selling lovely fresh meat and how we could make money by collecting empty pop bottles and exchanging them for pennies at the village shop.
- It hardly mattered that some of her cosmetics cost but pennies to make; it was the promise of glamour that put them across.
- Save up your pennies before you go to save wasting lots of money you haven't got.
- It now costs only pennies to produce a paperback, and books themselves can often be bought for less than the price of a cinema ticket.
- They make their money not so much from gas, which yields pennies of profit, but from all the stuff in the store.
- And before that I always saved up my pennies in a money box for rainy days.
- There is high end and low end and many designers sell clothing articles for very high prices that cost pennies to manufacture!
- My first effort was in 1934 when I went round all the villages collecting pennies for the people who needed the money.
- Not only are they given away for free at some clinics, but a subscription for the pill at a chemist costs only pennies.
- It costs pennies, and its side effect is an upset stomach.
- So I'll be rolling up my pennies - and trust me, there are a lot of pennies to be rolled - and sending the money off to Rachel to support her wonderful project.
- Each day tens of thousands of parents around the world watch helplessly as their children die from illnesses that can be easily treated with medications that cost only pennies, but which are out of reach to the impoverished.
- So one of my biggest pet peeves is people who waste lab supply money on things you can make yourself for pennies and only a little bit of work.
- It would cost just a few pennies to infuse a mix of spices into a vat of wine, so it's time someone gave us a mulled wine fit to drink.
- It costs pennies to use CD-Rs as a storage medium but I'm worried about them because I've see students cut bad copies every week.
- China alone has 8,000 toy makers competing fiercely for contracts by shaving pennies off production costs.
- Counting my pennies, I realised I had just enough money left for my favourite crepe and a cocktail.
1. 2.1a pennywith negative Used for emphasis to denote no money at all.
  一便士，一分（用于强调没钱）
  we didn't get paid a penny
  我们一便士也没得到。
  Example sentencesExamples
  I think this is another attempt by the government and their friends who are contractors to milk the Jamaican worker out of every last penny of their hard-earned money.
  Not a penny of the extra money will go to tackling low pay.
  The fire service has not received a penny of that money.
  There were claims in parliament that she wasn't worth a penny of the money the civil list paid her.
  Dozens of White House staffers are enjoying trips, some to luxurious destinations, without it costing them a penny.
  Donation cards are an easy way to direct money to your favourite cause without costing you a penny.
  His wife, on the other hand, has not received a penny of this money, theoretically owing to her since the date of separation.
  Nevertheless, there is a way we can reduce tuition fees by at least $2,000 a year and not cost the government a penny.
  I said it wouldn't require a penny of government money.
  I want to put on the record that I haven't had a penny of public money.
  The Channel Tunnel was built without a penny of taxpayers money.
  Actually, there is a lot, and it won't cost you a penny.
  We are not prepared to give that man a penny of our money.
  Although motorists have been exasperated by delays caused by the repairs, the work hasn't cost taxpayers a penny.
  You get to give a gift and it doesn't cost you a penny.
  Let private enterprise provide whatever private facilities the market demands but let not a penny of public money go into them.
  These groups do not use a penny of government money when they counsel women for whom birth control has failed that abortion is an option.
  This is also achieved without receiving a penny in taxpayers' money.
  As recently as three weeks ago he had not paid back a penny of the money he owes the House of Commons Fees Office (ie the taxpayer), despite his claims last year that he had done so.
  Not a penny of Government money has gone to the growth in Internet usage in the private sector.

Usage

On the different uses of the plural forms pence and pennies, see pence

Phrases

a bad penny always turns up

proverb Someone or something unwelcome will always reappear or return.
〈谚〉不想看到的总是一再出现；不受欢迎的总会回来
‘She's always turning up.’ Like a bad penny, Clare thought viciously
Example sentencesExamples
- "A bad penny always turns up," said my grandmother the day I was born.
- Now, now, a bad penny always turns up somewhere.
- Of course, it has been said that a bad penny always turns up again.

be two (or ten) a penny

Be plentiful and consequently of little value.
〈主英〉太多（或太容易得到）而不值钱
princes used to be two a penny in Hungary
Example sentencesExamples
- Ghosts, goblins, fairies, sprites seem to be two a penny in Skye.
- Opinions are ten a penny, everybody has their favourite reasons which are far short of the truth.
- Albums of old classics by rising young singing stars are ten a penny - but this one is worth opening your purse for.
- Because by the time I go on a honeymoon, space flights will be ten a penny.
- In capitalism's 700-year history, financial scandals are two a penny.
- If anything, I'm surprised at how much action they do show, but I guess that's because all these swinging shots are ten a penny now, and I have a feeling there's more good stuff in store.
- His superiors, knowing that boys his age were two a penny, did not even bother to follow him.
- Museums of modern art are two a penny in contemporary-art land.
- Novelty bands are ten a penny, as even the most cursory glance at the charts on either side of the Atlantic will show you.
- In Europe, cable-cars are almost two a penny, but they are extremely rare in the USA.
Synonyms
numerous, abundant, thick on the ground, profuse, plentiful, prolific, copious, legion, innumerable, countless, infinite, numberless
in large numbers, by the gross, in strength, by the yard
very common, widespread, popular, universal, ubiquitous
literary myriad, innumerous, manifold

count (or watch) the (or one's) pennies

Be careful about how much one spends.
小心花钱，精打细算
George and Betty have had to watch the pennies since he took early retirement
retirees need to pinch pennies
Example sentencesExamples
- After counting the pennies, can you afford to have children?
- They watch the pennies as you and I would our own money.
- They favor incremental improvements over time and watch the pennies.
- So what was it like to finally be able to stop counting the pennies?
- That is because people are watching the pennies and have either found a cheaper product, or decided that they simply cannot afford to take it.
- If they're to manage their finances properly while they're at university, they will need to know how to count the pennies.
- He'll be off earning vast piles of undeserved cash on the lecture circuit and drawing his bloated pension any day now and we'll be left sweeping up and counting the pennies.
- As my grandmother says, the rich stay that way by watching the pennies.
- If you can get some one else to drive, this is a course worth playing, especially if you are watching the pennies.
- If you're counting your pennies, a great date doesn't have to break the bank.
Synonyms
save, save money, cut expenditure, cut costs

every penny

All of the available money.
she has spent every penny on the dinner
Example sentencesExamples
- The magic of Harry Potter is an addictive and intoxicating experience, and worth every penny of the not insignificant cost.
- When I was 17 I had over $50,000 in the bank, and I had earned every penny.
- They work hard, and deserve every penny they earn.
- At this moment in time we are striving to save every penny we can to buy our first house.
- Those fearing for their health and life will spend every penny on a chimera of help.
- A lot of us are looking to squeeze every penny we can get, so there are some really good bargains out there.
- Finding ways to wring every penny out of real estate expenses can become such an overriding priority that cost cutting becomes an end in itself.
- Tax cuts for the bottom half of the working population—in particular those low income households who are now spending every penny they earn—are far more likely to help the high street.
- Every penny raised through our joint appeal will be spent improving the services provided to Scottish carers.
- "We want to make sure that we get every penny that we're entitled to," he said.

in for a penny, in for a pound

Used to express someone's intention to see an undertaking through, however much time, effort, or money this entails.
一旦开始就做到底；一不做，二不休
oh hell, I thought, in for a penny, in for a pound, and scrubbed the place from top to bottom
Example sentencesExamples
- Hey, in for a penny, in for a pound: I could go from Detroit to San Jose to Chicago.
- I figured that in for a penny, in for a pound that I could get the book to more people if I went public with it and there is a risk.
- But, in for a penny, in for a pound, appears to be the thinking in Rome these days.
- Hey, in for a penny, in for a pound - might as well violate the First Amendment, too, whenever we think it will help things.
- Still, in for a penny, in for a pound, as they say.

look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves

proverb If you concentrate on saving small amounts of money, you'll soon amass a large amount.
〈谚〉积少成多；注意存小钱很快就可以积累一大笔钱
Example sentencesExamples
- The advice to look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves has obviously been taken to heart.
- One day in school he quoted a proverb that his mother had repeated often: "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.
- My mum always used to say: "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves."
- My old mum used to say to us urchins, ‘look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.'

pennies from heaven

Unexpected benefits, especially financial ones.
意外的好处，意外之财
compared with the cost of buying the database outright, paying as you go may seem like pennies from heaven
Example sentencesExamples
- This album should probably be considered pennies from heaven.
- These alternate sources of funding can provide crucial cash as long as entrepreneurs know the true costs of accepting what seem to be pennies from heaven.
- The service costs about 15 cents for each message - a new twist to the concept of pennies from heaven.
- Namely, pennies from heaven aren't exactly showering down on Latin American apparel producers in need of financing.
- That is to say, he certainly wasn't praying for more pennies from heaven.
Synonyms
windfall, godsend

the penny dropped

informal Used to indicate that someone has finally realized something.
〈非正式，主英〉最后明白了，终于明白了
I was about to ask Jack who it was, when the penny suddenly dropped
Example sentencesExamples
- It was about that time that I noticed the stubble on her co-worker's chin, and again the penny dropped.
- I was treated for depression for two years before the penny dropped.
- Frequently we would find ourselves in situations where we were being delayed for hours on end, until the penny dropped and it finally became clear that the only way to move on was by crossing palms with silver.
- Suddenly the penny dropped when some of the more familiar names were just a bit too familiar.
- At some time over the past few weeks, the penny dropped.
- Finally the penny dropped - the thought of being embarrassed in front of the elite coaches and players of English rugby frightened me to death.
- Then when I called her up the penny dropped that this was the Kathy I had known at school.
- Hasn't the penny dropped yet for these clever customers?
- Then the penny dropped and the fun began as we tried to translate all the weird, wonderful phonetic spellings of the dishes on offer.
- Shortly after my son was born, the penny dropped that in all probability, one day I would be some girl's mother-in-law.

a penny for your thoughts

Used to ask someone what they are thinking about.
用于英语口语你呆呆地在想什么啦！
Example sentencesExamples
- When did the phrase "a penny for your thoughts" originate?
- It's in this book that we find the earliest known citation of the line, "A penny for your thoughts."
- So, a penny for your thoughts here: what criteria, if any, should be applied in selecting names?
- Next time someone offers you a penny for your thoughts… sell!
- I haven't heard anyone say that for years - a penny for your thoughts.

Origin

Old English penig, penning of Germanic origin; related to Dutch penning, German Pfennig, perhaps also to pawn² and (with reference to shape) pan¹.

The English word penny is related to Dutch penning and German Pfennig, but their ultimate origin is unknown. The penny, originally of pure silver, then later of copper (hence the colloquial term coppers), was first used in England in the 8th century. The origins of the phrase the penny has dropped lie in gambling arcades. The idea is of a coin-operated slot machine whirring into action when you insert a small coin. The reference to penny gives a clue as to the age of the expression, as it goes back to the 1950s. Inflation has also caught up with proverbial sayings such as in for a penny, in for a pound, used to express someone's intention to see an undertaking through—it dates from the late 17th century, when a penny would have been a significant investment to many. You would need at least 20p now to spend a penny in a British public lavatory. This phrase comes from a time when coin-operated locks were commonly found on the doors of public toilets, operated by the old, heavy pre-decimal pennies. These pennies went out of use on 5 February 1971. See also pound.

Rhymes

antennae, any, Benny, blenny, Dene, fenny, jenny, Kenny, Kilkenny, Lenny, many, penne, Rennie

Definition of penny in US English:

penny

nounˈpɛniˈpenē

1North American informal A one-cent coin equal to one hundredth of a dollar.
Example sentencesExamples
- You wouldn't be able to tell whether a web page costs a penny or a hundred dollars to visit.
- To make things easier, the penny will also go up in value one cent each year until it is worth five cents.
- Staring down into it you could see the shiny bronze pennies and silver dimes lying at the bottom.
- ‘A hundred pennies make a dollar,’ my father would say, encouraging me to surrender the coin in my hand to a narrow slot in the head of a porcelain pig.
- The getter collects all the materials needed for the activity, which include shaving cream, 2 paper towels, and a penny.
- By now, every person who had been watching was at once confident that there were no coins left and curious as to why someone would bother to carry around exactly four hundred fifty pennies.
1. 1.1 A British bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a pound.
  便士（英国铜硬币和货币单位，100便士等于1英镑）
  Example sentencesExamples
  He held out his hand and showed me a fifty pence and ten pence coin and said ‘All I want is a cup of tea.’
  Suddenly, asking fifty pence for a cassette seems an act somewhere well to the left of folly.
  Thus, in the other envelope today, was a cheque for fifty pounds and forty one pence.
  She pressed a fifty pence piece into my hand and told me to go to the jukebox and put on song number 10 from cd number 3.
  With slaughter fees of eight or nine pounds each, the buyers maintained that they could find around fifty pence in profit on each animal.
  Stamps on sale ranged in price from a few pennies to many hundreds of pounds each.
  They also included a selection of threepenny bits, a 1916 halfpenny and a penny piece from 1921.
  He gave me a miserable little cornet and charged me the full fifty pence.
  Fifty pence goes in the slot, nasty plastic opera goggles come out.
  Find a meal more nutritious than steamed broccoli and rice, but without going over my fifty pence dinner budget.
  Fifty pence from each bottle bought will go to the trust's ancient tree hunt, a project to save rare, ancient trees in the UK.
  He had pencilled a price of four pounds and fifty pence onto the first page.
  Or to be precise, one thousand, nine hundred and seventy-nine pounds, twenty-four pence.
  Hospital patients are being charged four pence a minute for internet connection time.
  It is difficult to estimate the costs of printed portraits, but popular ballads sold for between a half penny and a penny between 1520-1640.
  Even more shocking than their aggrandizement of linguistic power is their evident ignorance of how English, the language of pounds and pennies, dollars and cents, works.
  The total sum due was one hundred and four pounds and eight pence.
  Within two years of such a vote, pounds and pence could be going the same way as guilders and pfennigs.
  Soon he is sneaking off to dance practice, pretending that his fifty pence are still going for boxing.
  Couldn't they have just asked for the fifty pence (or whatever the price of the croutons was).
2. 1.2 A former British coin and monetary unit equal to one twelfth of a shilling and one 240th of a pound.
  便士（英国铜硬币和货币单位，100便士等于1英镑）
  Example sentencesExamples
  The wickedly funny show is set in the days of pounds, shillings and pence, tin baths and condensed-milk butties.
  Buy a little book ruled for the purpose for pounds, shillings and pence and keep an account of cash received and expended.
  There were twenty shillings in a pound and twelve pence in a shilling.
  He continued writing something in a ledger, balancing columns of pounds, shillings and pence.
  It will be little different from when we scrapped pounds, shillings and pence and switched to the decimal system.
  Payment was made in cash of the pounds, shillings and pence variety and the ‘luck penny’ handed over.
  Before 1971 there were 240 pennies in a pound, 12 pennies in a shilling, and maths lessons were a lot more difficult.
  Prior to decimalization, the pound was divided into twenty shillings, each shilling into twelve pennies and each penny into four farthings.
  I'll take anything, even old pennies from the pound shilling and pence era.
  The teenager quickly added up the long columns of pounds, shillings and pence, scoring top marks.
3. 1.3pennies A small sum of money.
  一小笔钱
  in the current economic situation any chance to save a few pennies is welcome
  在当前的经济形势下，任何能省一些小钱的机会都是受欢迎的。
  Example sentencesExamples
  So I'll be rolling up my pennies - and trust me, there are a lot of pennies to be rolled - and sending the money off to Rachel to support her wonderful project.
  So one of my biggest pet peeves is people who waste lab supply money on things you can make yourself for pennies and only a little bit of work.
  There is high end and low end and many designers sell clothing articles for very high prices that cost pennies to manufacture!
  It costs pennies to use CD-Rs as a storage medium but I'm worried about them because I've see students cut bad copies every week.
  China alone has 8,000 toy makers competing fiercely for contracts by shaving pennies off production costs.
  Last time I checked, most glass lenses cost more than pennies.
  Each day tens of thousands of parents around the world watch helplessly as their children die from illnesses that can be easily treated with medications that cost only pennies, but which are out of reach to the impoverished.
  My first effort was in 1934 when I went round all the villages collecting pennies for the people who needed the money.
  It hardly mattered that some of her cosmetics cost but pennies to make; it was the promise of glamour that put them across.
  It would cost just a few pennies to infuse a mix of spices into a vat of wine, so it's time someone gave us a mulled wine fit to drink.
  They make their money not so much from gas, which yields pennies of profit, but from all the stuff in the store.
  Counting my pennies, I realised I had just enough money left for my favourite crepe and a cocktail.
  Add up all those measly little pennies and the total cost for one slice of pizza comes to 78 cents.
  Save up your pennies before you go to save wasting lots of money you haven't got.
  It costs pennies, and its side effect is an upset stomach.
  Not only are they given away for free at some clinics, but a subscription for the pill at a chemist costs only pennies.
  And before that I always saved up my pennies in a money box for rainy days.
  I tell them how the butcher's van would stop outside my parents' house selling lovely fresh meat and how we could make money by collecting empty pop bottles and exchanging them for pennies at the village shop.
  A penny here and a penny there added up to some very real money last year at 30 Seattle-area schools.
  It now costs only pennies to produce a paperback, and books themselves can often be bought for less than the price of a cinema ticket.
4. 1.4 (in biblical use) a denarius.
  〈圣经〉迪纳里厄斯（古罗马的金币或银币）
  Example sentencesExamples
  Instead of throwing the penny in the miser's face, as others had done, Rabbi Schneur Zalman thanked the man politely and turned to leave.
  There is the man who yearned for eternal life but was terribly attached to his own possessions, and the poor widow who put her last penny in the treasury.
  Let the widow give her penny and the laborer his wage.
  He will preach and say, you might be a rich man and you are without avarice, or you might be a poor person with only a penny in your pocket and you might be avaricious because you desire to be wealthy.
  I'd rather die without a penny in my pocket than be anything less than what I am as a Jew and as a human being.
2a pennywith negative Used for emphasis to denote no money at all.
一便士，一分（用于强调没钱）
we didn't get paid a penny
我们一便士也没得到。
Example sentencesExamples
- These groups do not use a penny of government money when they counsel women for whom birth control has failed that abortion is an option.
- Donation cards are an easy way to direct money to your favourite cause without costing you a penny.
- You get to give a gift and it doesn't cost you a penny.
- His wife, on the other hand, has not received a penny of this money, theoretically owing to her since the date of separation.
- The fire service has not received a penny of that money.
- I said it wouldn't require a penny of government money.
- Not a penny of the extra money will go to tackling low pay.
- I think this is another attempt by the government and their friends who are contractors to milk the Jamaican worker out of every last penny of their hard-earned money.
- There were claims in parliament that she wasn't worth a penny of the money the civil list paid her.
- Not a penny of Government money has gone to the growth in Internet usage in the private sector.
- I want to put on the record that I haven't had a penny of public money.
- Dozens of White House staffers are enjoying trips, some to luxurious destinations, without it costing them a penny.
- Let private enterprise provide whatever private facilities the market demands but let not a penny of public money go into them.
- Nevertheless, there is a way we can reduce tuition fees by at least $2,000 a year and not cost the government a penny.
- Actually, there is a lot, and it won't cost you a penny.
- We are not prepared to give that man a penny of our money.
- This is also achieved without receiving a penny in taxpayers' money.
- As recently as three weeks ago he had not paid back a penny of the money he owes the House of Commons Fees Office (ie the taxpayer), despite his claims last year that he had done so.
- Although motorists have been exasperated by delays caused by the repairs, the work hasn't cost taxpayers a penny.
- The Channel Tunnel was built without a penny of taxpayers money.

Phrases

be two (or ten) a penny

Be plentiful or easily obtained and consequently of little value.
〈主英〉太多（或太容易得到）而不值钱
Example sentencesExamples
- Museums of modern art are two a penny in contemporary-art land.
- In capitalism's 700-year history, financial scandals are two a penny.
- Because by the time I go on a honeymoon, space flights will be ten a penny.
- Ghosts, goblins, fairies, sprites seem to be two a penny in Skye.
- Albums of old classics by rising young singing stars are ten a penny - but this one is worth opening your purse for.
- Novelty bands are ten a penny, as even the most cursory glance at the charts on either side of the Atlantic will show you.
- If anything, I'm surprised at how much action they do show, but I guess that's because all these swinging shots are ten a penny now, and I have a feeling there's more good stuff in store.
- His superiors, knowing that boys his age were two a penny, did not even bother to follow him.
- Opinions are ten a penny, everybody has their favourite reasons which are far short of the truth.
- In Europe, cable-cars are almost two a penny, but they are extremely rare in the USA.
Synonyms
numerous, abundant, thick on the ground, profuse, plentiful, prolific, copious, legion, innumerable, countless, infinite, numberless

pinch (or count or watch)(one's) pennies

Be careful about how much one spends.
小心花钱，精打细算
he is pinching pennies to save for a movie
she's been watching her pennies
Example sentencesExamples
- As my grandmother says, the rich stay that way by watching the pennies.
- He'll be off earning vast piles of undeserved cash on the lecture circuit and drawing his bloated pension any day now and we'll be left sweeping up and counting the pennies.
- They watch the pennies as you and I would our own money.
- After counting the pennies, can you afford to have children?
- So what was it like to finally be able to stop counting the pennies?
- That is because people are watching the pennies and have either found a cheaper product, or decided that they simply cannot afford to take it.
- They favor incremental improvements over time and watch the pennies.
- If you're counting your pennies, a great date doesn't have to break the bank.
- If you can get some one else to drive, this is a course worth playing, especially if you are watching the pennies.
- If they're to manage their finances properly while they're at university, they will need to know how to count the pennies.
Synonyms
save, save money, cut expenditure, cut costs

in for a penny, in for a pound

Used to express someone's intention to complete an enterprise once it has been undertaken, however much time, effort, or money this entails.
一旦开始就做到底；一不做，二不休
Example sentencesExamples
- Hey, in for a penny, in for a pound: I could go from Detroit to San Jose to Chicago.
- I figured that in for a penny, in for a pound that I could get the book to more people if I went public with it and there is a risk.
- But, in for a penny, in for a pound, appears to be the thinking in Rome these days.
- Hey, in for a penny, in for a pound - might as well violate the First Amendment, too, whenever we think it will help things.
- Still, in for a penny, in for a pound, as they say.

look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves

proverb If you concentrate on saving small amounts of money, you'll soon amass a large amount.
〈谚〉积少成多；注意存小钱很快就可以积累一大笔钱
Example sentencesExamples
- My old mum used to say to us urchins, ‘look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.'
- One day in school he quoted a proverb that his mother had repeated often: "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.
- My mum always used to say: "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves."
- The advice to look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves has obviously been taken to heart.

pennies from heaven

Unexpected benefits, especially financial ones.
意外的好处，意外之财
Example sentencesExamples
- These alternate sources of funding can provide crucial cash as long as entrepreneurs know the true costs of accepting what seem to be pennies from heaven.
- That is to say, he certainly wasn't praying for more pennies from heaven.
- Namely, pennies from heaven aren't exactly showering down on Latin American apparel producers in need of financing.
- The service costs about 15 cents for each message - a new twist to the concept of pennies from heaven.
- This album should probably be considered pennies from heaven.
Synonyms
windfall, godsend

the penny dropped

informal Used to indicate that someone has finally realized or understood something.
〈非正式，主英〉最后明白了，终于明白了
Example sentencesExamples
- Shortly after my son was born, the penny dropped that in all probability, one day I would be some girl's mother-in-law.
- Frequently we would find ourselves in situations where we were being delayed for hours on end, until the penny dropped and it finally became clear that the only way to move on was by crossing palms with silver.
- Then the penny dropped and the fun began as we tried to translate all the weird, wonderful phonetic spellings of the dishes on offer.
- At some time over the past few weeks, the penny dropped.
- I was treated for depression for two years before the penny dropped.
- Hasn't the penny dropped yet for these clever customers?
- Suddenly the penny dropped when some of the more familiar names were just a bit too familiar.
- Finally the penny dropped - the thought of being embarrassed in front of the elite coaches and players of English rugby frightened me to death.
- Then when I called her up the penny dropped that this was the Kathy I had known at school.
- It was about that time that I noticed the stubble on her co-worker's chin, and again the penny dropped.

a penny for your thoughts

Used to ask someone what they are thinking about.
用于英语口语你呆呆地在想什么啦！
Example sentencesExamples
- So, a penny for your thoughts here: what criteria, if any, should be applied in selecting names?
- When did the phrase "a penny for your thoughts" originate?
- It's in this book that we find the earliest known citation of the line, "A penny for your thoughts."
- I haven't heard anyone say that for years - a penny for your thoughts.
- Next time someone offers you a penny for your thoughts… sell!

Origin

Old English penig, penning of Germanic origin; related to Dutch penning, German Pfennig, perhaps also to pawn and (with reference to shape) pan.

单词	penny
释义	Definition of penny in English: penny nounPlural pennies, Plural pence ˈpɛniˈpɛni 1A British bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a pound. 便士（英国铜硬币和货币单位，100便士等于1英镑） calls are charged at fifty pence a minute as modifier a fifty-pence piece Example sentencesExamples Find a meal more nutritious than steamed broccoli and rice, but without going over my fifty pence dinner budget. He had pencilled a price of four pounds and fifty pence onto the first page. It is difficult to estimate the costs of printed portraits, but popular ballads sold for between a half penny and a penny between 1520-1640. Fifty pence goes in the slot, nasty plastic opera goggles come out. Within two years of such a vote, pounds and pence could be going the same way as guilders and pfennigs. He held out his hand and showed me a fifty pence and ten pence coin and said ‘All I want is a cup of tea.’ With slaughter fees of eight or nine pounds each, the buyers maintained that they could find around fifty pence in profit on each animal. Hospital patients are being charged four pence a minute for internet connection time. Or to be precise, one thousand, nine hundred and seventy-nine pounds, twenty-four pence. Even more shocking than their aggrandizement of linguistic power is their evident ignorance of how English, the language of pounds and pennies, dollars and cents, works. Couldn't they have just asked for the fifty pence (or whatever the price of the croutons was). Stamps on sale ranged in price from a few pennies to many hundreds of pounds each. Suddenly, asking fifty pence for a cassette seems an act somewhere well to the left of folly. She pressed a fifty pence piece into my hand and told me to go to the jukebox and put on song number 10 from cd number 3. Thus, in the other envelope today, was a cheque for fifty pounds and forty one pence. He gave me a miserable little cornet and charged me the full fifty pence. The total sum due was one hundred and four pounds and eight pence. Soon he is sneaking off to dance practice, pretending that his fifty pence are still going for boxing. Fifty pence from each bottle bought will go to the trust's ancient tree hunt, a project to save rare, ancient trees in the UK. They also included a selection of threepenny bits, a 1916 halfpenny and a penny piece from 1921. 1.1 A former British coin and monetary unit equal to one twelfth of a shilling and 240th of a pound. 便士（英国铜硬币和货币单位，100便士等于1英镑） Example sentencesExamples The wickedly funny show is set in the days of pounds, shillings and pence, tin baths and condensed-milk butties. Buy a little book ruled for the purpose for pounds, shillings and pence and keep an account of cash received and expended. He continued writing something in a ledger, balancing columns of pounds, shillings and pence. The teenager quickly added up the long columns of pounds, shillings and pence, scoring top marks. Payment was made in cash of the pounds, shillings and pence variety and the ‘luck penny’ handed over. Prior to decimalization, the pound was divided into twenty shillings, each shilling into twelve pennies and each penny into four farthings. I'll take anything, even old pennies from the pound shilling and pence era. There were twenty shillings in a pound and twelve pence in a shilling. Before 1971 there were 240 pennies in a pound, 12 pennies in a shilling, and maths lessons were a lot more difficult. It will be little different from when we scrapped pounds, shillings and pence and switched to the decimal system. 1.2North American informal A one-cent coin. 〈北美，非正式〉一分面额的硬币 Example sentencesExamples You wouldn't be able to tell whether a web page costs a penny or a hundred dollars to visit. By now, every person who had been watching was at once confident that there were no coins left and curious as to why someone would bother to carry around exactly four hundred fifty pennies. ‘A hundred pennies make a dollar,’ my father would say, encouraging me to surrender the coin in my hand to a narrow slot in the head of a porcelain pig. Staring down into it you could see the shiny bronze pennies and silver dimes lying at the bottom. The getter collects all the materials needed for the activity, which include shaving cream, 2 paper towels, and a penny. To make things easier, the penny will also go up in value one cent each year until it is worth five cents. 1.3 (in biblical use) a denarius. 〈圣经〉迪纳里厄斯（古罗马的金币或银币） Example sentencesExamples I'd rather die without a penny in my pocket than be anything less than what I am as a Jew and as a human being. Let the widow give her penny and the laborer his wage. He will preach and say, you might be a rich man and you are without avarice, or you might be a poor person with only a penny in your pocket and you might be avaricious because you desire to be wealthy. There is the man who yearned for eternal life but was terribly attached to his own possessions, and the poor widow who put her last penny in the treasury. Instead of throwing the penny in the miser's face, as others had done, Rabbi Schneur Zalman thanked the man politely and turned to leave. 2a pennyA small sum of money. 一小笔钱 any chance to save a few pennies is welcome 在当前的经济形势下，任何能省一些小钱的机会都是受欢迎的。 Example sentencesExamples A penny here and a penny there added up to some very real money last year at 30 Seattle-area schools. Add up all those measly little pennies and the total cost for one slice of pizza comes to 78 cents. Last time I checked, most glass lenses cost more than pennies. I tell them how the butcher's van would stop outside my parents' house selling lovely fresh meat and how we could make money by collecting empty pop bottles and exchanging them for pennies at the village shop. It hardly mattered that some of her cosmetics cost but pennies to make; it was the promise of glamour that put them across. Save up your pennies before you go to save wasting lots of money you haven't got. It now costs only pennies to produce a paperback, and books themselves can often be bought for less than the price of a cinema ticket. They make their money not so much from gas, which yields pennies of profit, but from all the stuff in the store. And before that I always saved up my pennies in a money box for rainy days. There is high end and low end and many designers sell clothing articles for very high prices that cost pennies to manufacture! My first effort was in 1934 when I went round all the villages collecting pennies for the people who needed the money. Not only are they given away for free at some clinics, but a subscription for the pill at a chemist costs only pennies. It costs pennies, and its side effect is an upset stomach. So I'll be rolling up my pennies - and trust me, there are a lot of pennies to be rolled - and sending the money off to Rachel to support her wonderful project. Each day tens of thousands of parents around the world watch helplessly as their children die from illnesses that can be easily treated with medications that cost only pennies, but which are out of reach to the impoverished. So one of my biggest pet peeves is people who waste lab supply money on things you can make yourself for pennies and only a little bit of work. It would cost just a few pennies to infuse a mix of spices into a vat of wine, so it's time someone gave us a mulled wine fit to drink. It costs pennies to use CD-Rs as a storage medium but I'm worried about them because I've see students cut bad copies every week. China alone has 8,000 toy makers competing fiercely for contracts by shaving pennies off production costs. Counting my pennies, I realised I had just enough money left for my favourite crepe and a cocktail. 2.1a pennywith negative Used for emphasis to denote no money at all. 一便士，一分（用于强调没钱） we didn't get paid a penny 我们一便士也没得到。 Example sentencesExamples I think this is another attempt by the government and their friends who are contractors to milk the Jamaican worker out of every last penny of their hard-earned money. Not a penny of the extra money will go to tackling low pay. The fire service has not received a penny of that money. There were claims in parliament that she wasn't worth a penny of the money the civil list paid her. Dozens of White House staffers are enjoying trips, some to luxurious destinations, without it costing them a penny. Donation cards are an easy way to direct money to your favourite cause without costing you a penny. His wife, on the other hand, has not received a penny of this money, theoretically owing to her since the date of separation. Nevertheless, there is a way we can reduce tuition fees by at least $2,000 a year and not cost the government a penny. I said it wouldn't require a penny of government money. I want to put on the record that I haven't had a penny of public money. The Channel Tunnel was built without a penny of taxpayers money. Actually, there is a lot, and it won't cost you a penny. We are not prepared to give that man a penny of our money. Although motorists have been exasperated by delays caused by the repairs, the work hasn't cost taxpayers a penny. You get to give a gift and it doesn't cost you a penny. Let private enterprise provide whatever private facilities the market demands but let not a penny of public money go into them. These groups do not use a penny of government money when they counsel women for whom birth control has failed that abortion is an option. This is also achieved without receiving a penny in taxpayers' money. As recently as three weeks ago he had not paid back a penny of the money he owes the House of Commons Fees Office (ie the taxpayer), despite his claims last year that he had done so. Not a penny of Government money has gone to the growth in Internet usage in the private sector. Usage On the different uses of the plural forms pence and pennies, see pence Phrases a bad penny always turns up proverb Someone or something unwelcome will always reappear or return. 〈谚〉不想看到的总是一再出现；不受欢迎的总会回来 ‘She's always turning up.’ Like a bad penny, Clare thought viciously Example sentencesExamples "A bad penny always turns up," said my grandmother the day I was born. Now, now, a bad penny always turns up somewhere. Of course, it has been said that a bad penny always turns up again. be two (or ten) a penny Be plentiful and consequently of little value. 〈主英〉太多（或太容易得到）而不值钱 princes used to be two a penny in Hungary Example sentencesExamples Ghosts, goblins, fairies, sprites seem to be two a penny in Skye. Opinions are ten a penny, everybody has their favourite reasons which are far short of the truth. Albums of old classics by rising young singing stars are ten a penny - but this one is worth opening your purse for. Because by the time I go on a honeymoon, space flights will be ten a penny. In capitalism's 700-year history, financial scandals are two a penny. If anything, I'm surprised at how much action they do show, but I guess that's because all these swinging shots are ten a penny now, and I have a feeling there's more good stuff in store. His superiors, knowing that boys his age were two a penny, did not even bother to follow him. Museums of modern art are two a penny in contemporary-art land. Novelty bands are ten a penny, as even the most cursory glance at the charts on either side of the Atlantic will show you. In Europe, cable-cars are almost two a penny, but they are extremely rare in the USA. Synonyms numerous, abundant, thick on the ground, profuse, plentiful, prolific, copious, legion, innumerable, countless, infinite, numberless in large numbers, by the gross, in strength, by the yard very common, widespread, popular, universal, ubiquitous literary myriad, innumerous, manifold count (or watch) the (or one's) pennies Be careful about how much one spends. 小心花钱，精打细算 George and Betty have had to watch the pennies since he took early retirement retirees need to pinch pennies Example sentencesExamples After counting the pennies, can you afford to have children? They watch the pennies as you and I would our own money. They favor incremental improvements over time and watch the pennies. So what was it like to finally be able to stop counting the pennies? That is because people are watching the pennies and have either found a cheaper product, or decided that they simply cannot afford to take it. If they're to manage their finances properly while they're at university, they will need to know how to count the pennies. He'll be off earning vast piles of undeserved cash on the lecture circuit and drawing his bloated pension any day now and we'll be left sweeping up and counting the pennies. As my grandmother says, the rich stay that way by watching the pennies. If you can get some one else to drive, this is a course worth playing, especially if you are watching the pennies. If you're counting your pennies, a great date doesn't have to break the bank. Synonyms save, save money, cut expenditure, cut costs every penny All of the available money. she has spent every penny on the dinner Example sentencesExamples The magic of Harry Potter is an addictive and intoxicating experience, and worth every penny of the not insignificant cost. When I was 17 I had over $50,000 in the bank, and I had earned every penny. They work hard, and deserve every penny they earn. At this moment in time we are striving to save every penny we can to buy our first house. Those fearing for their health and life will spend every penny on a chimera of help. A lot of us are looking to squeeze every penny we can get, so there are some really good bargains out there. Finding ways to wring every penny out of real estate expenses can become such an overriding priority that cost cutting becomes an end in itself. Tax cuts for the bottom half of the working population—in particular those low income households who are now spending every penny they earn—are far more likely to help the high street. Every penny raised through our joint appeal will be spent improving the services provided to Scottish carers. "We want to make sure that we get every penny that we're entitled to," he said. in for a penny, in for a pound Used to express someone's intention to see an undertaking through, however much time, effort, or money this entails. 一旦开始就做到底；一不做，二不休 oh hell, I thought, in for a penny, in for a pound, and scrubbed the place from top to bottom Example sentencesExamples Hey, in for a penny, in for a pound: I could go from Detroit to San Jose to Chicago. I figured that in for a penny, in for a pound that I could get the book to more people if I went public with it and there is a risk. But, in for a penny, in for a pound, appears to be the thinking in Rome these days. Hey, in for a penny, in for a pound - might as well violate the First Amendment, too, whenever we think it will help things. Still, in for a penny, in for a pound, as they say. look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves proverb If you concentrate on saving small amounts of money, you'll soon amass a large amount. 〈谚〉积少成多；注意存小钱很快就可以积累一大笔钱 Example sentencesExamples The advice to look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves has obviously been taken to heart. One day in school he quoted a proverb that his mother had repeated often: "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves. My mum always used to say: "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves." My old mum used to say to us urchins, ‘look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.' pennies from heaven Unexpected benefits, especially financial ones. 意外的好处，意外之财 compared with the cost of buying the database outright, paying as you go may seem like pennies from heaven Example sentencesExamples This album should probably be considered pennies from heaven. These alternate sources of funding can provide crucial cash as long as entrepreneurs know the true costs of accepting what seem to be pennies from heaven. The service costs about 15 cents for each message - a new twist to the concept of pennies from heaven. Namely, pennies from heaven aren't exactly showering down on Latin American apparel producers in need of financing. That is to say, he certainly wasn't praying for more pennies from heaven. Synonyms windfall, godsend the penny dropped informal Used to indicate that someone has finally realized something. 〈非正式，主英〉最后明白了，终于明白了 I was about to ask Jack who it was, when the penny suddenly dropped Example sentencesExamples It was about that time that I noticed the stubble on her co-worker's chin, and again the penny dropped. I was treated for depression for two years before the penny dropped. Frequently we would find ourselves in situations where we were being delayed for hours on end, until the penny dropped and it finally became clear that the only way to move on was by crossing palms with silver. Suddenly the penny dropped when some of the more familiar names were just a bit too familiar. At some time over the past few weeks, the penny dropped. Finally the penny dropped - the thought of being embarrassed in front of the elite coaches and players of English rugby frightened me to death. Then when I called her up the penny dropped that this was the Kathy I had known at school. Hasn't the penny dropped yet for these clever customers? Then the penny dropped and the fun began as we tried to translate all the weird, wonderful phonetic spellings of the dishes on offer. Shortly after my son was born, the penny dropped that in all probability, one day I would be some girl's mother-in-law. a penny for your thoughts Used to ask someone what they are thinking about. 用于英语口语你呆呆地在想什么啦！ Example sentencesExamples When did the phrase "a penny for your thoughts" originate? It's in this book that we find the earliest known citation of the line, "A penny for your thoughts." So, a penny for your thoughts here: what criteria, if any, should be applied in selecting names? Next time someone offers you a penny for your thoughts… sell! I haven't heard anyone say that for years - a penny for your thoughts. Origin Old English penig, penning of Germanic origin; related to Dutch penning, German Pfennig, perhaps also to pawn² and (with reference to shape) pan¹. The English word penny is related to Dutch penning and German Pfennig, but their ultimate origin is unknown. The penny, originally of pure silver, then later of copper (hence the colloquial term coppers), was first used in England in the 8th century. The origins of the phrase the penny has dropped lie in gambling arcades. The idea is of a coin-operated slot machine whirring into action when you insert a small coin. The reference to penny gives a clue as to the age of the expression, as it goes back to the 1950s. Inflation has also caught up with proverbial sayings such as in for a penny, in for a pound, used to express someone's intention to see an undertaking through—it dates from the late 17th century, when a penny would have been a significant investment to many. You would need at least 20p now to spend a penny in a British public lavatory. This phrase comes from a time when coin-operated locks were commonly found on the doors of public toilets, operated by the old, heavy pre-decimal pennies. These pennies went out of use on 5 February 1971. See also pound. Rhymes antennae, any, Benny, blenny, Dene, fenny, jenny, Kenny, Kilkenny, Lenny, many, penne, Rennie noun.1 phr. Definition of penny in US English: penny nounˈpɛniˈpenē 1North American informal A one-cent coin equal to one hundredth of a dollar. Example sentencesExamples You wouldn't be able to tell whether a web page costs a penny or a hundred dollars to visit. To make things easier, the penny will also go up in value one cent each year until it is worth five cents. Staring down into it you could see the shiny bronze pennies and silver dimes lying at the bottom. ‘A hundred pennies make a dollar,’ my father would say, encouraging me to surrender the coin in my hand to a narrow slot in the head of a porcelain pig. The getter collects all the materials needed for the activity, which include shaving cream, 2 paper towels, and a penny. By now, every person who had been watching was at once confident that there were no coins left and curious as to why someone would bother to carry around exactly four hundred fifty pennies. 1.1 A British bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a pound. 便士（英国铜硬币和货币单位，100便士等于1英镑） Example sentencesExamples He held out his hand and showed me a fifty pence and ten pence coin and said ‘All I want is a cup of tea.’ Suddenly, asking fifty pence for a cassette seems an act somewhere well to the left of folly. Thus, in the other envelope today, was a cheque for fifty pounds and forty one pence. She pressed a fifty pence piece into my hand and told me to go to the jukebox and put on song number 10 from cd number 3. With slaughter fees of eight or nine pounds each, the buyers maintained that they could find around fifty pence in profit on each animal. Stamps on sale ranged in price from a few pennies to many hundreds of pounds each. They also included a selection of threepenny bits, a 1916 halfpenny and a penny piece from 1921. He gave me a miserable little cornet and charged me the full fifty pence. Fifty pence goes in the slot, nasty plastic opera goggles come out. Find a meal more nutritious than steamed broccoli and rice, but without going over my fifty pence dinner budget. Fifty pence from each bottle bought will go to the trust's ancient tree hunt, a project to save rare, ancient trees in the UK. He had pencilled a price of four pounds and fifty pence onto the first page. Or to be precise, one thousand, nine hundred and seventy-nine pounds, twenty-four pence. Hospital patients are being charged four pence a minute for internet connection time. It is difficult to estimate the costs of printed portraits, but popular ballads sold for between a half penny and a penny between 1520-1640. Even more shocking than their aggrandizement of linguistic power is their evident ignorance of how English, the language of pounds and pennies, dollars and cents, works. The total sum due was one hundred and four pounds and eight pence. Within two years of such a vote, pounds and pence could be going the same way as guilders and pfennigs. Soon he is sneaking off to dance practice, pretending that his fifty pence are still going for boxing. Couldn't they have just asked for the fifty pence (or whatever the price of the croutons was). 1.2 A former British coin and monetary unit equal to one twelfth of a shilling and one 240th of a pound. 便士（英国铜硬币和货币单位，100便士等于1英镑） Example sentencesExamples The wickedly funny show is set in the days of pounds, shillings and pence, tin baths and condensed-milk butties. Buy a little book ruled for the purpose for pounds, shillings and pence and keep an account of cash received and expended. There were twenty shillings in a pound and twelve pence in a shilling. He continued writing something in a ledger, balancing columns of pounds, shillings and pence. It will be little different from when we scrapped pounds, shillings and pence and switched to the decimal system. Payment was made in cash of the pounds, shillings and pence variety and the ‘luck penny’ handed over. Before 1971 there were 240 pennies in a pound, 12 pennies in a shilling, and maths lessons were a lot more difficult. Prior to decimalization, the pound was divided into twenty shillings, each shilling into twelve pennies and each penny into four farthings. I'll take anything, even old pennies from the pound shilling and pence era. The teenager quickly added up the long columns of pounds, shillings and pence, scoring top marks. 1.3pennies A small sum of money. 一小笔钱 in the current economic situation any chance to save a few pennies is welcome 在当前的经济形势下，任何能省一些小钱的机会都是受欢迎的。 Example sentencesExamples So I'll be rolling up my pennies - and trust me, there are a lot of pennies to be rolled - and sending the money off to Rachel to support her wonderful project. So one of my biggest pet peeves is people who waste lab supply money on things you can make yourself for pennies and only a little bit of work. There is high end and low end and many designers sell clothing articles for very high prices that cost pennies to manufacture! It costs pennies to use CD-Rs as a storage medium but I'm worried about them because I've see students cut bad copies every week. China alone has 8,000 toy makers competing fiercely for contracts by shaving pennies off production costs. Last time I checked, most glass lenses cost more than pennies. Each day tens of thousands of parents around the world watch helplessly as their children die from illnesses that can be easily treated with medications that cost only pennies, but which are out of reach to the impoverished. My first effort was in 1934 when I went round all the villages collecting pennies for the people who needed the money. It hardly mattered that some of her cosmetics cost but pennies to make; it was the promise of glamour that put them across. It would cost just a few pennies to infuse a mix of spices into a vat of wine, so it's time someone gave us a mulled wine fit to drink. They make their money not so much from gas, which yields pennies of profit, but from all the stuff in the store. Counting my pennies, I realised I had just enough money left for my favourite crepe and a cocktail. Add up all those measly little pennies and the total cost for one slice of pizza comes to 78 cents. Save up your pennies before you go to save wasting lots of money you haven't got. It costs pennies, and its side effect is an upset stomach. Not only are they given away for free at some clinics, but a subscription for the pill at a chemist costs only pennies. And before that I always saved up my pennies in a money box for rainy days. I tell them how the butcher's van would stop outside my parents' house selling lovely fresh meat and how we could make money by collecting empty pop bottles and exchanging them for pennies at the village shop. A penny here and a penny there added up to some very real money last year at 30 Seattle-area schools. It now costs only pennies to produce a paperback, and books themselves can often be bought for less than the price of a cinema ticket. 1.4 (in biblical use) a denarius. 〈圣经〉迪纳里厄斯（古罗马的金币或银币） Example sentencesExamples Instead of throwing the penny in the miser's face, as others had done, Rabbi Schneur Zalman thanked the man politely and turned to leave. There is the man who yearned for eternal life but was terribly attached to his own possessions, and the poor widow who put her last penny in the treasury. Let the widow give her penny and the laborer his wage. He will preach and say, you might be a rich man and you are without avarice, or you might be a poor person with only a penny in your pocket and you might be avaricious because you desire to be wealthy. I'd rather die without a penny in my pocket than be anything less than what I am as a Jew and as a human being. 2a pennywith negative Used for emphasis to denote no money at all. 一便士，一分（用于强调没钱） we didn't get paid a penny 我们一便士也没得到。 Example sentencesExamples These groups do not use a penny of government money when they counsel women for whom birth control has failed that abortion is an option. Donation cards are an easy way to direct money to your favourite cause without costing you a penny. You get to give a gift and it doesn't cost you a penny. His wife, on the other hand, has not received a penny of this money, theoretically owing to her since the date of separation. The fire service has not received a penny of that money. I said it wouldn't require a penny of government money. Not a penny of the extra money will go to tackling low pay. I think this is another attempt by the government and their friends who are contractors to milk the Jamaican worker out of every last penny of their hard-earned money. There were claims in parliament that she wasn't worth a penny of the money the civil list paid her. Not a penny of Government money has gone to the growth in Internet usage in the private sector. I want to put on the record that I haven't had a penny of public money. Dozens of White House staffers are enjoying trips, some to luxurious destinations, without it costing them a penny. Let private enterprise provide whatever private facilities the market demands but let not a penny of public money go into them. Nevertheless, there is a way we can reduce tuition fees by at least $2,000 a year and not cost the government a penny. Actually, there is a lot, and it won't cost you a penny. We are not prepared to give that man a penny of our money. This is also achieved without receiving a penny in taxpayers' money. As recently as three weeks ago he had not paid back a penny of the money he owes the House of Commons Fees Office (ie the taxpayer), despite his claims last year that he had done so. Although motorists have been exasperated by delays caused by the repairs, the work hasn't cost taxpayers a penny. The Channel Tunnel was built without a penny of taxpayers money. Phrases be two (or ten) a penny Be plentiful or easily obtained and consequently of little value. 〈主英〉太多（或太容易得到）而不值钱 Example sentencesExamples Museums of modern art are two a penny in contemporary-art land. In capitalism's 700-year history, financial scandals are two a penny. Because by the time I go on a honeymoon, space flights will be ten a penny. Ghosts, goblins, fairies, sprites seem to be two a penny in Skye. Albums of old classics by rising young singing stars are ten a penny - but this one is worth opening your purse for. Novelty bands are ten a penny, as even the most cursory glance at the charts on either side of the Atlantic will show you. If anything, I'm surprised at how much action they do show, but I guess that's because all these swinging shots are ten a penny now, and I have a feeling there's more good stuff in store. His superiors, knowing that boys his age were two a penny, did not even bother to follow him. Opinions are ten a penny, everybody has their favourite reasons which are far short of the truth. In Europe, cable-cars are almost two a penny, but they are extremely rare in the USA. Synonyms numerous, abundant, thick on the ground, profuse, plentiful, prolific, copious, legion, innumerable, countless, infinite, numberless pinch (or count or watch)(one's) pennies Be careful about how much one spends. 小心花钱，精打细算 he is pinching pennies to save for a movie she's been watching her pennies Example sentencesExamples As my grandmother says, the rich stay that way by watching the pennies. He'll be off earning vast piles of undeserved cash on the lecture circuit and drawing his bloated pension any day now and we'll be left sweeping up and counting the pennies. They watch the pennies as you and I would our own money. After counting the pennies, can you afford to have children? So what was it like to finally be able to stop counting the pennies? That is because people are watching the pennies and have either found a cheaper product, or decided that they simply cannot afford to take it. They favor incremental improvements over time and watch the pennies. If you're counting your pennies, a great date doesn't have to break the bank. If you can get some one else to drive, this is a course worth playing, especially if you are watching the pennies. If they're to manage their finances properly while they're at university, they will need to know how to count the pennies. Synonyms save, save money, cut expenditure, cut costs in for a penny, in for a pound Used to express someone's intention to complete an enterprise once it has been undertaken, however much time, effort, or money this entails. 一旦开始就做到底；一不做，二不休 Example sentencesExamples Hey, in for a penny, in for a pound: I could go from Detroit to San Jose to Chicago. I figured that in for a penny, in for a pound that I could get the book to more people if I went public with it and there is a risk. But, in for a penny, in for a pound, appears to be the thinking in Rome these days. Hey, in for a penny, in for a pound - might as well violate the First Amendment, too, whenever we think it will help things. Still, in for a penny, in for a pound, as they say. look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves proverb If you concentrate on saving small amounts of money, you'll soon amass a large amount. 〈谚〉积少成多；注意存小钱很快就可以积累一大笔钱 Example sentencesExamples My old mum used to say to us urchins, ‘look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.' One day in school he quoted a proverb that his mother had repeated often: "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves. My mum always used to say: "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves." The advice to look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves has obviously been taken to heart. pennies from heaven Unexpected benefits, especially financial ones. 意外的好处，意外之财 Example sentencesExamples These alternate sources of funding can provide crucial cash as long as entrepreneurs know the true costs of accepting what seem to be pennies from heaven. That is to say, he certainly wasn't praying for more pennies from heaven. Namely, pennies from heaven aren't exactly showering down on Latin American apparel producers in need of financing. The service costs about 15 cents for each message - a new twist to the concept of pennies from heaven. This album should probably be considered pennies from heaven. Synonyms windfall, godsend the penny dropped informal Used to indicate that someone has finally realized or understood something. 〈非正式，主英〉最后明白了，终于明白了 Example sentencesExamples Shortly after my son was born, the penny dropped that in all probability, one day I would be some girl's mother-in-law. Frequently we would find ourselves in situations where we were being delayed for hours on end, until the penny dropped and it finally became clear that the only way to move on was by crossing palms with silver. Then the penny dropped and the fun began as we tried to translate all the weird, wonderful phonetic spellings of the dishes on offer. At some time over the past few weeks, the penny dropped. I was treated for depression for two years before the penny dropped. Hasn't the penny dropped yet for these clever customers? Suddenly the penny dropped when some of the more familiar names were just a bit too familiar. Finally the penny dropped - the thought of being embarrassed in front of the elite coaches and players of English rugby frightened me to death. Then when I called her up the penny dropped that this was the Kathy I had known at school. It was about that time that I noticed the stubble on her co-worker's chin, and again the penny dropped. a penny for your thoughts Used to ask someone what they are thinking about. 用于英语口语你呆呆地在想什么啦！ Example sentencesExamples So, a penny for your thoughts here: what criteria, if any, should be applied in selecting names? When did the phrase "a penny for your thoughts" originate? It's in this book that we find the earliest known citation of the line, "A penny for your thoughts." I haven't heard anyone say that for years - a penny for your thoughts. Next time someone offers you a penny for your thoughts… sell! Origin Old English penig, penning of Germanic origin; related to Dutch penning, German Pfennig, perhaps also to pawn and (with reference to shape) pan. noun.1 phr.
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