Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A pie formerly made from the edible organs of a deer or hog.
- idiom. eat humble pie To be forced to apologize abjectly or admit one's faults in humiliating circumstances.
Wiktionary
Etymologies
- The expression derives from umble pie, the original name of the offal meat pie, considered inferior food. In medieval times the pie was often served to lower-class people. Although "umbles" and the modern word "humble" are etymologically unrelated, each word has appeared both with and without the initial "h" after the Middle Ages until the 19th century. (Wiktionary)
- Alteration (influenced by humble) of obsolete umble pie : Middle English umbles, edible animal organs (variant of numbles, from Norman French nombles, from Old French, loin of veal, probably from alteration of Latin lumbulus, diminutive of lumbus, loin) + pie1. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“And Lakers Owner Jack Kent Cooke, eating the most expensive piece of humble pie in NBA annals, was left with an interesting dilemma:”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘humble pie’.
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Not edible
Things that sound edible but are not (usually). See Liberty's To Eat, or Not to Eat? for more diet food.
cinnabar, dulcimer, belfries, potto, maltha, grapple, loam, rake, tort, pomade, buffalo chip, wedgie and 172 more...
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carolinacc's list
jettisoned, yearn, chrestomathy, catachresis, elation, gesundheit, ohne, tertium quid, iota, oscillation, argillous, flagrate and 67 more...
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Tuesday words
just the next words that come along
nasality, transignification, lapsarian, disciple, slanguage, atwitter, avast, ahoy, asleep, awake, hymnody, glissade and 573 more...
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phraseology
put a sock in it, you poltroon of a..., bob's your uncle, a wink's as good ..., clever trousers, que sera sera, he said she said, hot and bothered, filth flarn filth, fannie's your aunt, like fun you are, like a colt you are and 25 more...
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That's Just Offal
Edible organ meats and leftover parts.
blood sausage, blood pudding, black pudding, scrapple, brawn, headcheese, drob, giblets, chitlins, chitlings, chitterlings, haggis and 55 more...
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Word Box 2
barbeque, catastrophe, sad, silhouette, subtle, schnitzel, lahar, portfolio, olio, sockdolager, palace, cheap and 15 more...
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Say it with food
Not that there is actually any food involved.
pickle in the middle, sour grapes, humble pie, egg on your face, smooth as butter, easy as pie, spit and vinegar
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etymologically awesome
mind you in this instance 'awesome' is really more of an 'interesting' that in application is actually more a 'noteworthy' superseded of course by 'vaguely'.
musquash, humble pie, epaulet, crimson, purple, cavalier, pamphlet, skullduggery, skulduggery, profane
Tweets
Looking for tweets for humble pie.
fbharjo or broiled cow Jan 27, 2011
PossibleUnderscore 'Cross References:
eat boiled crow'
That's why we all love Wordnik. It can introduce you to things you never knew existed and leave you completely hanging. Jan 27, 2011
jennarenn Excellent reestee. Aug 1, 2007
reesetee Eew. That's offal. ;-> Aug 1, 2007
trivet To eat humble pie (1830) is from umble pie (1648), pie made from umbles "edible inner parts of an animal" (especially deer), considered a low-class food. The similar sense of similar-sounding words (the "h" of humble was not pronounced then) converged in the pun. Umbles, meanwhile, is M.E. numbles "offal" (with loss of n- through assimilation into preceding article), from O.Fr. nombles "loin, fillet," from L. lumulus, dim. of lumbus "loin." Aug 1, 2007