Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One who finds customers for a prostitute; a procurer.
  • intransitive verb To serve as a procurer of prostitutes.
  • intransitive verb To compromise one's principles, especially in promoting the interests of another, for personal gain.
  • intransitive verb To customize or adorn, often garishly.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To provide for others the means of gratifying lust; pander.
  • noun A small bavin. See the quotation.
  • noun One who provides others with the means and opportunity of gratifying their lusts; a pander.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who provides gratification for the lust of others; a procurer; a pander.
  • intransitive verb To procure women for the gratification of others' lusts; to pander.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun five in Cumbrian and Welsh sheep counting
  • noun A person who solicits customers for prostitution and acts as manager for prostitutes; a panderer.
  • noun A man who can easily attract women.
  • verb intransitive To act as a procurer of prostitutes; to pander.
  • verb transitive To prostitute someone.
  • verb transitive, US, African American Vernacular To excessively customize something, especially a vehicle, according to ghetto standards (also pimp out).
  • verb transitive, medicine, slang To ask progressively harder and ultimately unanswerable questions of a resident or medical student (by a senior member of the medical staff).
  • verb transitive, US, slang To promote, to tout.
  • verb slang To persuade, smooth talk or trick another into doing something for your benefit.
  • adjective slang excellent, fashionable, stylish

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb arrange for sexual partners for others
  • noun someone who procures customers for whores (in England they call a pimp a ponce)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

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Examples

Comments

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  • Another example of negative words being colloquially flipped on their heads for positive use. It's a strange phenomenon, but I'd say it's a bad one. And by bad I mean good. ;-)

    September 17, 2007

  • I know the great: they reckon nothing upon the zeal and attachment of a real friend; but only care for pimping sycophants.

    - Lesage, The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, tr. Smollett, bk 1 ch. 15

    September 12, 2008

  • 5 in North of England sheep counting jargon. See yan

    September 26, 2008

  • Citation on son of a bitch.

    January 14, 2022