ha'pence

English

Noun

ha'pence

1. plural of ha'penny
   • 1866, James Greenwood, The true history of a little ragamuffin, page 68:

     "Give us hold of the three ha'pence. Cut away with you, and if you are gone as long as a minute, see what you'll catch." "Give him the three-ha'pence and cut away !"

   • c. 1930, Marriott Edgar, Three Ha'pence A Foot‎^[1]:

     Now Maple were Sam's Monopoly;
     That means it were all 'is to cut,
     And nobody else 'adn't got none;
     So 'e asked Noah three ha'pence a foot.

   • 1975, R. F. Delderfield., Give Us This Day:

     That's why chaps like me, who take their work seriously, get more kicks than ha'pence. Ninety per cent of the men who outrank me got where they did by a word in the right ear at the right time...Give Us This Day, published by Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN

   • 2010 July 22, George Monbiot, The Guardian, George Monbiot's Blog,How scrapping the SDC to save money will cost the taxpayer a fortune

     Junking it is the definitive false economy: spoiling the ship for a ha' pence of tar.

Derived terms

• more kicks than ha'pence

Anagrams

• cheapen, peachen