pigeonhole

Everyday

1. noun: One of a set of small open boxes in a wall or desk where letters and papers are put for each person. tree →
2. verb: To decide too quickly that someone or something belongs to one simple type, unfairly: "Don't pigeonhole people." tree →
3. verb: To put something aside and ignore it (old use). tree →

In the lessons

In schools and offices, teachers have pigeonholes in the staff room for letters. In discussions about fairness, pigeonholing people means putting them in a box, like "girls are bad at maths", which is unfair. Similar: label, stereotype.

Examples

• Leave the note in Mr Jones's pigeonhole. tree →
• Each teacher has a pigeonhole in the staff room. tree →
• Don't pigeonhole him as just a footballer; he loves poetry too. tree →
• She hated being pigeonholed as the shy one. tree →
• The letters were sorted into pigeonholes. tree →
• Pigeons once lived in holes like these in dovecotes. tree →

Note

One word (sometimes "pigeon-hole"). Regular verb. Spelling: pigeon has "eo" (pi-geon).