Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - penn'orth

~ n singular + of BrE old-fashioned a pennyworth penny n plural pennies or pence ~ BrE 1 a small bronze coin, used in Britain since 1971, worth one hundredth (1/100th) of a pound  (a bag of pennies) 2 plural pence abbreviation p a unit of money used in Britain since 1971  (there are 100 pence in one pound. | It only costs a few pence. | a 20 pence piece) 3 AmE a coin worth a cent in the US or Canada  (I only have pennies and nickels in my pocket.) 4 written abbreviation d plural pence a unit of money in Britain before 1971, equal to one 12th (1/12th) of a shilling  (pounds, shillings and pence | twopence/threepence etc)  (a book costing only sixpence) 5 fourpenny/sixpenny etc worth or costing fourpence, sixpence etc of the money used in Britain before 1971  (a sixpenny piece) 6 not a penny no money at all  (Not a penny of the money came to me. | She'll never get a penny from me.) 7 every penny all of an amount of money  (You'd better pay it back - every penny!) 8 the/your last penny the only money that is left  (She had given away her last penny.) 9 a penny for your thoughts/a penny for them spoken used to ask someone what they are thinking about when they are silent 10 the penny (has) dropped BrE informal used to mean that someone has finally understood something that had been said 11 be two/ten a penny BrE to be very cheap and easy to obtain, and therefore of little value  (Computer experts are two a penny nowadays.) 12 not have two pennies/half-pennies to rub together BrE informal to be very poor 13 in for a penny, in for a pound BrE used to mean that if something has been started, it should be finished, whatever the cost may be 14 turn up like a bad penny BrE if someone you dislike turns up like a bad penny, they keep appearing in situations where they are not wanted  (- see also halfpenny, spend a penny spend (5), cost a pretty penny pretty2 (7))