Meaning & use
pied-à-terre
A small apartment or house kept for occasional use, especially in a city where the owner does not live full-time.
See it in a sentence
The couple bought a small pied-à-terre in the city for weekend visits.
Many executives keep a pied-à-terre near the office to avoid a long weekly commute.
A note on using this word
Borrowed from French, meaning literally 'foot on the ground', the term implies a secondary, modest residence rather than a full-time home.
Words with a similar meaning
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