pen·ny 1 (p?n??)n. pl. pen·nies 1. In the United States and Canada, the coin that is worth one cent.2. pl. pence (p?ns) a. Abbr. p. A coin used in Great Britain since 1971, worth 1/100 of a pound. Also called new penny.b. Abbr. d. A coin formerly used in Great Britain, worth 1/12 of a shilling or 1/240 of a pound.c. A coin formerly used in the Republic of Ireland, worth 1/100 of a pound.d. A coin used in various dependent territories of the United Kingdom.3. Any of various coins of small denomination.4. A sum of money.Idiom: pretty penny A considerable sum of money: I paid a pretty penny for that ring.[Middle English, an English coin, from Old English penig.]pen·ny 2 (p?n??)n. pl. pen·nies Variant of pinny..American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.penny (?p?n?) n, pl pennies or pence (p?ns) pl pennies1. (Currencies) Also called (formerly): new penny (in Britain) a bronze coin having a value equal to one hundredth of a pound. Symbol: p 2. (Currencies) (in Britain before 1971) a bronze or copper coin having a value equal to one twelfth of a shilling or one two-hundred-and-fortieth of a pound. Abbreviation: d 3. (Currencies) a former monetary unit of the Republic of Ireland worth one hundredth of a pound4. (Currencies) (in the US and Canada) a cent5. (Currencies) a coin of similar value, as used in several other countries6. (used with a negative) informal chiefly Brit the least amount of money: I don’t have a penny. 7. a bad penny informal chiefly Brit an objectionable person or thing (esp in the phrase turn up like a bad penny)8. a pretty penny informal a considerable sum of money9. spend a penny informal Brit to urinate10. the penny dropped informal chiefly Brit the explanation of something was finally realized11. two a penny plentiful but of little value[Old English penig, pening; related to Old Saxon penni(n)g, Old High German pfeni(n)c, German Pfennig]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014pen?ny (?p?n i) n., pl. pen?nies, (esp. collectively for 2,3,11 ) pence. 1. a monetary unit of various nations, as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the U.S., equal to 1/100 of a dollar; one cent. 2. Also called new penny. a monetary unit of the United Kingdom, equal to 1/100 of a pound. 3. a monetary unit equal to 1/240 of the former British pound or to 1/12 of the former British shilling. 4. a unit of currency in the Republic of Ireland, equal to 1/100 of the punt. 5. a sum of money: to spend every penny. 6. the unit of measurement describing the size of a nail in standard designations from twopenny to sixtypenny. Abbr.: d Idioms: 1. a bad penny, someone or something undesirable. 2. a pretty penny, a considerable sum of money. 3. turn an honest penny, to earn one’s living honestly. [before 900; Middle English peni, Old English penig, pænig, pen(n)ing, c. Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Dutch penning, Old High German pfenning (German Pfennig), Old Norse penningr (perhaps Pennies usually refers to a number of individual coins.You use pence or p when you are talking about a sum of money.