piggy

(redirected from piggiest)

break open the piggy bank

To use one's savings or reserve funds to pay for something. I knew the job offer in Japan was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I decided to break open the piggy bank and buy some plane tickets. We've got to get with the times, Tom. The only way we're going to survive is if we break open the piggy bank and bring our hardware up to spec.
See also: bank, break, open, piggy

piggy in the middle

1. Someone who is placed in the middle of an argument between two other people or groups, and who doesn't want to side with either one of them. Primarily heard in UK. As a kid, I always felt like I was piggy in the middle when my parents started fighting. The infighting at the company has made our department piggy in the middle between the management and the financial team.
2. A children's game in which a ball or other object is kept away from one person by two or more other people. Primarily heard in UK. Whenever my brother's friends are over, the only game they'll play with me is piggy in the middle—and I'm always the piggy!
See also: middle, piggy

piggyback off (of) (something)

To use something said or done by someone else as the foundation for one's own actions. A: "It's interesting the way Hemingway portrays Lady Brett Ashley doing things more traditionally associated with men, such as frequenting bars and having sex with various partners." B: "Absolutely. To piggyback off of what you're saying, I think the character can actually be read as a symbol of the feminist ideal of the New Woman." They're not really your friends—they're just trying to piggyback off your success so they can launch their own careers.
See also: off, piggyback

piggyback on(to) (something)

To use something said or done by someone else as the foundation for one's own actions. A: "It's interesting the way Hemingway portrays Lady Brett Ashley doing things more traditionally associated with men, such as frequenting bars and having sex with various partners." B: "Absolutely. To piggyback on what you're saying, I think the character can actually be read as a symbol of the feminist ideal of the New Woman." They're not really your friends—they're just trying to piggyback onto your success so they can launch their own careers.
See also: piggyback

piggyback ride

An instance in which one is carried on someone's back, with one's arms around the other person's neck and one's legs around their waist. A: "Daddy, can I have a piggyback ride?" B: "Sure, sweetie. Put your arms around my neck and hold on tight!" He slipped on the curb and sprained his ankle, so I hoisted him up on my back and gave him a piggyback ride the rest of the way home.
See also: piggyback, ride
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

piggy in the middle

BRITISH
If someone is piggy in the middle, they are involved in a situation where two people or groups are having an argument and they have to deal with or help both sides. I was piggy in the middle, caught between my parents, not wanting to hurt either of them. Note: `Piggy in the middle' is a children's game in which two children throw a ball to each other over the head of a third child who tries to catch it.
See also: middle, piggy
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

(be) pig/piggy in the ˈmiddle

(informal) (be) a person who is caught between two people or groups who are fighting or arguing: Her parents quarrelled a lot, and unfortunately she was always piggy in the middle.
This is the name of a children’s game where two children throw a ball to each other, and a third child in the middle tries to catch it.
See also: middle, pig, piggy
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
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References in periodicals archive ?
All pigs have the piggiest part of all--an incredible bendable snout (see photo at left).