noun · rare

piker

piker · pikers

A soldier armed with a pike, a pikemanA soldier armed with a pike, a pikeman.

/ˈpaɪkə(ɹ)/

» Panama is a piker compared to Fifth Avenue.

Meaning

9 senses

(historical)A soldier armed with a pike, a pikeman.
One who bets or gambles only with small amounts of money.
A stingy person; a cheapskate.
An amateur.
(Australia)A bullock living in the wild. (Also used attributively.)
(Australia, New Zealand, slang)One who refuses to go out with friends, or leaves a party early; a spoilsport or "chicken".
Mate, don't be a piker! Come to Angie′s birthday party tonight!
(Australia, New Zealand, slang)One who pikes (quits or backs out of a promise).
(US, dated)A male freshman at Cornell University.
A tramp; a vagrant.

Examples

1 sentences

Panama is a piker compared to Fifth Avenue.
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Origin

From pike + -er. In some senses, it has been linked etymologically to the word pikey as we

From pike + -er. In some senses, it has been linked etymologically to the word pikey as well as to Pike County in eastern Missouri https://web.archive.org/web/20051111194645/http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/p/p0300200.html. In the latter instance the term originally denoted poor immigrants to California.

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