"pis aller" meaning in All languages combined

See pis aller on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

IPA: /piːzˈaleɪ/ [UK]
Etymology: Unadapted borrowing from French pis-aller. Etymology templates: {{ubor|en|fr|pis-aller}} Unadapted borrowing from French pis-aller Head templates: {{en-noun|?|nolinkhead=1}} pis aller
  1. A last resort.
    Sense id: en-pis_aller-en-noun-e~wpPh6P Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "pis-aller"
      },
      "expansion": "Unadapted borrowing from French pis-aller",
      "name": "ubor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Unadapted borrowing from French pis-aller.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?",
        "nolinkhead": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "pis aller",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter XII, in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, pages 274–275:",
          "text": "Soh! she would secure me as a pis aller, I suppose, in case Mr Rashleigh Osbaldistone should not take compassion upon her!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 189:",
          "text": "Love, in fact, having in this modern world-movement been denied, and its natural manifestations affected with a sense of guilt and of sin, has really languished and ceased to play its natural part in life; and a vast number of people - both men and women, finding themselves barred or derailed from the main object of existence, have turned their energies to 'business' or 'money-making' or 'social advancement' or something equally futile, as the only poor substitute and pis aller open to them.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 411:",
          "text": "To tell the truth the Army seems the likeliest pis aller – though I am not very militant.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 425:",
          "text": "Mungo is on his feet, lurching with the boat, dipping into the bright tatters of his shirt for the smooth ivory grip of his secret weapon, his pis aller, the gleaming silver-plated pistol Johnson had pressed on him with a parting benediction.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A last resort."
      ],
      "id": "en-pis_aller-en-noun-e~wpPh6P",
      "links": [
        [
          "last resort",
          "last resort"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/piːzˈaleɪ/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "pis aller"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "pis-aller"
      },
      "expansion": "Unadapted borrowing from French pis-aller",
      "name": "ubor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Unadapted borrowing from French pis-aller.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?",
        "nolinkhead": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "pis aller",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English nouns with unknown or uncertain plurals",
        "English terms borrowed from French",
        "English terms derived from French",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English unadapted borrowings from French",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter XII, in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, pages 274–275:",
          "text": "Soh! she would secure me as a pis aller, I suppose, in case Mr Rashleigh Osbaldistone should not take compassion upon her!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 189:",
          "text": "Love, in fact, having in this modern world-movement been denied, and its natural manifestations affected with a sense of guilt and of sin, has really languished and ceased to play its natural part in life; and a vast number of people - both men and women, finding themselves barred or derailed from the main object of existence, have turned their energies to 'business' or 'money-making' or 'social advancement' or something equally futile, as the only poor substitute and pis aller open to them.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 411:",
          "text": "To tell the truth the Army seems the likeliest pis aller – though I am not very militant.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 425:",
          "text": "Mungo is on his feet, lurching with the boat, dipping into the bright tatters of his shirt for the smooth ivory grip of his secret weapon, his pis aller, the gleaming silver-plated pistol Johnson had pressed on him with a parting benediction.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A last resort."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "last resort",
          "last resort"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/piːzˈaleɪ/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "pis aller"
}

Download raw JSONL data for pis aller meaning in All languages combined (2.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-21 using wiktextract (ce0be54 and f2e72e5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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