Meaning & use
pied
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounliterary
Marked with patches of two or more colors, especially black and white.
Grammar: Usually before a noun: a pied horse.
A pied horse grazed in the meadow.
The pied wagtail hopped along the path.
She wore a pied scarf of black and white squares.
adjectivebefore a nounbiology
Used in the name of some birds that have black and white feathers.
Grammar: Part of a species name: pied flycatcher.
We spotted a pied flycatcher near the oak.
The pied avocet has a thin, upturned bill.
A pied crow circled above the farm.
Common combinations
- pied piper
- The pied piper led the children away.
- pied wagtail
- A pied wagtail darted across the car park.
- pied beauty
- The poet praised pied beauty in nature.
- pied coat
- The pied coat of the cow stood out.
Synonyms and how they differ
- piebald
- Piebald is the usual word for black and white horses, while pied is broader and more literary.
- dappled
- Dappled describes spots or patches of light and shade, not just two colors.
- mottled
- Mottled suggests uneven blotches of several shades.
- patchy
- Patchy is an everyday word for uneven patches, with less decoration than pied.
Opposites
Word family
- piebald adjective
- black and white, especially of horses
- magpie noun
- a black and white bird whose name comes from the same root
Commonly confused: pied or pie?
pied vs pie
Pied is pronounced like 'pie' with a d on the end, but it has nothing to do with food. It is a color word, not a past tense of a verb.
Practice
Which animal would you most likely call pied?
Choose one answer.
Pied means marked with patches of two colors. The other animals are one color.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pied”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.