pigeonholes

pi·geon·holes
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UK/ˈpɪdʒ(ɪ)nhəʊlz/US/ˈpɪdʒənˌ(h)oʊlz/

noun

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

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Meanings

nounpigeonholes pl (plural only)

alternative pigeon-holes

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

    [Godfrey] Speed[well]. […] [H]ave you ſuch gold to give? / [Innocent] Lamb[skin]. Yes, yes, has vvon it betting at the bovvling Alleys, / Or at the Pigeon-holes in the Garden Alleyes.

    c. 1610–1614 (date written), William Rowley; [possibly also Thomas Heywood, George Wilkins], A New Wonder, a Woman never Vext. A Pleasant Conceited Comedy: […], London: […] G[eorge] P[urslowe] for Francis Constable, […], published 1632, →OCLC, Act IV, page 52
noun

alternative pigeon-holes · alternative pigeon holes

  1. pluralplural of pigeonhole
verb

alternative pigeon-holes

  1. indicativepresentsingularthird personthird-person singular simple present indicative of pigeonhole

Origin

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

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

pigeonholes. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pigeonholes

MLA

“pigeonholes.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pigeonholes. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pigeonholes,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pigeonholes.

Source: pigeonholes on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.