Standard Lemma guide

pigeonholes

noun · verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpɪdʒ(ɪ)nhəʊlz/
  • General-American: /ˈpɪdʒənˌ(h)oʊlz/

1

noun

Meaning 1

An outdoor game played in the 17th and early 18th centuries in which each player bowls a ball towards targets (probably small compartments).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical, obsolete, plural, plural-only

Topics: games

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

plural of pigeonhole

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, plural

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

third-person singular simple present indicative of pigeonhole

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From pigeonhole + -s (suffix forming regular plurals of nouns and pluralia tantum; and third-person singular simple present indicative forms of verbs).