sty
noun/staɪ/
/staɪ/
- (plural sties)(also pigsty, North American English also pigpen)a small building or area where pigs are keptTopics Farmingc2
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- (plural sties)(also pigsty, North American English also pigpen)[singular] (informal) a very dirty or untidy place
- (also stye)(plural sties, styes)an infection of the eyelid (= the skin above or below the eye) which makes it red and painful
Word Originsense 1 Old English stī- (in stīfearh ‘sty pig’), probably identical with stig ‘hall’ (see steward), of Germanic origin.sense 2 early 17th cent.: from dialect styany, from styan (from Old English stīgend ‘riser’) + eye.
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