cent

To be intentionally disinherited from a will by being bequeathed a single cent rather than left nothing at all. Primarily heard in US, South Africa. My father never liked that I gave up medicine to become a writer, and he cut me off with a cent when he died.

To have a feeling of complete worthlessness or unimportance, likened to the paltry value of two cents. I'm glad to have finally broken up with Steven, he always made me feel like two cents.

To share one's opinion or point of view for whatever it may be worth, generally when it is unasked for. I find Jeff's husband a bit trying at times. He always insists on giving his two cents whether we want his opinion or not! If I can just give my two cents, I think the staff would really appreciate a bump in their pay.

To share one's opinion or point of view for whatever it may be worth, generally when it is unasked for. I find Jeff's husband a bit trying at times. He always insists on giving his two cents' worth whether we want his opinion or not! If I can just give my two cents' worth, I think the staff would really appreciate a bump in their pay.

To share one's opinion or point of view for whatever it may be worth, generally when it is unasked for. I find Jeff's husband a bit trying at times. He always insists on putting in his two cents whether we want his opinion or not! If I can just put in my two cents, I think the staff would really appreciate a bump in their pay.

To share one's opinion or point of view for whatever it may be worth, generally when it is unasked for. I find Jeff's husband a bit trying at times. He always insists on putting in his two cents' worth whether we want his opinion or not! If I can just put in my two cents' worth, I think the staff would really appreciate a bump in their pay.

The smallest possible amount of money. Primarily heard in US. I worked all of that overtime and never received a red cent for my efforts.

Worthless. I don't know how I'm going to tell that woman that her prized collectibles are not worth a red cent.

One's opinion or point of view for whatever it may be worth, generally when it is unasked for. I find Jeff's husband a bit trying at times. He always insists on putting in his two cents whether we want his opinion or not! Here's my two cents: I think the staff would really appreciate a bump in their pay.

to block or isolate someone or something from some place or something. They cut the cattle off from the wheat field. The enemy tanks cut off the troops from their camp.

Fig. to interrupt someone or something; to prevent someone from continuing to speak. (See also chop someone off.) In the middle of her sentence, the teacher cut her off short. Bob cut off Mary when she was trying to explain.

Rur. He is stupid but rich. He got the job because he's the boss's son, not because he's smart. He wears a ten-dollar hat on a five-cent head.

Inf. worthless. This pen is not worth a damn. When it comes to keeping score, she's not worth a damn.

worthless. This land is all swampy. It's not worth a dime. This pen I bought isn't worth a dime. It has no ink.

Fig. to add one's comments or opinion, even if unwanted or unasked for. You don't need to put your oar in. I don't need your advice. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have stuck my oar in when you were arguing with your wife. Do you mind if I put in my oar? I have a suggestion. There is no need for you to put in your two cents' worth.

to give your opinion She believes it's her duty to vote and put her two cents in.

without needing much encouragement You're so spoiled and nasty that for two cents I'd throw you out in the street.

if something is discussed or thought about in a dollars-and-cents way, the exact amounts of money involved are thought about (always before noun) The dollars-and-cents details of the new budget will be presented tomorrow by the government.

to involve yourself in a discussion or a situation when other people do not want you to I don't want Janet coming to the meeting and sticking her oar in - she knows nothing about the situation.

no money at all I did all that work for them and they didn't pay me a red cent! It turns out his paintings aren't worth a red cent.

if you say that for two cents you would do something unpleasant to someone, you mean that you want very much to do it to them For two cents I'd hit him. He's so darned spoiled and stuck up.

to give your opinion in a conversation, often when it is not wanted She always has to put her two cents worth in! Why can't she just keep quiet?

For nothing; for a petty sum. For example, For two cents I'd quit the club entirely. Similarly, like two cents, means "of little or no value or importance, worthless," as in She made me feel like two cents. The use of two cents in this sense is thought to be derived from a similar British use of twopence or tuppence, which dates from about 1600. The American coin was substituted in the 1800s, along with two bits, slang for 25 cents and also meaning "a petty sum." Similarly, put in one's two cents or two cents' worth , meaning "to express one's unsolicited opinion for whatever it is worth," dates from the late 1800s.

Also, not worth a plugged nickel or red cent or bean or hill of beans or fig or straw or tinker's damn . Worthless, as in That car isn't worth a damn, or My new tennis racket is not worth a plugged nickel. As for the nouns here, a damn or curse is clearly of no great value (also see not give a damn); a plugged nickel in the 1800s referred to a debased five-cent coin; a cent denotes the smallest American coin, which was red when made of pure copper (1800s); a bean has been considered trivial or worthless since the late 1300s (Chaucer so used it), whereas hill of beans alludes to a planting method whereby four or five beans are put in a mound (and still are worthless); and both fig and straw have been items of no worth since about 1400. A tinker's dam, first recorded in 1877, was a wall of dough raised around a spot where a metal pipe is being repaired so as to hold solder in place until it hardens, whereupon the dam is discarded. However, tinker's damn was first recorded in 1839 and probably was merely an intensification of "not worth a damn," rather than having anything to do with the dam.

see under for two cents.

see under not worth a dime.

A sensibly affordable item. The remark “What this country needs is a good five-cent cigar” was popularized by Thomas Riley Marshall, vice president of the United States under Woodrow Wilson. In one account, he made the remark while presiding in the Senate after he heard a succession of senators enumerate what was lacking in the United States. The remark, which most likely originated with a 19th-century humorist named Kin Hubbard, was appropriated by several generations of Americans to complain obliquely about overpriced items of any sort.