What does pioche in French mean?

What is the meaning of the word pioche in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use pioche in French.

The word pioche in French means pickaxe, stack, pile, transmission key, dig, draw, pick up, good draw, lucky draw, make a bad draw, not strike it lucky, bad pick, bad draw, bad choice, wrong choice, dumbo, nitwit. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word pioche

pickaxe

nom féminin (outil de terrassement à bout pointu) (UK)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Ils creusèrent un passage à coups de pioche.
They dug a passage with a pickaxe.

stack, pile

nom féminin (jeu : tas de cartes) (playing cards)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Au rami, on prend une carte dans la pioche.
In rummy, you take a card from the stack (or: pile).

transmission key

nom féminin (figuré (manipulateur télégraphique)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Les opérateurs télégraphiques envoyaient leurs messages en donnant des coups courts ou longs sur une pioche.
Telegraph operators sent their messages by making short or long taps on a transmission key.

dig

verbe transitif (creuser)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Nous avons pioché notre allée de garage pour installer des drains.
We dug up our driveway to fit drains.

draw

verbe transitif (jeu : prendre une carte) (playing card)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Il piocha une carte pour continuer à jouer.
He drew a card to keep playing.

pick up

verbe transitif (se débrouiller pour récupérer [qch])

(phrasal verb, transitive, separable: Verb with adverb(s) or preposition(s), having special meaning, divisible--for example, "call off" [=cancel], "call the game off," "call off the game.")
Elle a fait un mémoire en piochant des informations çà et là.
She did her dissertation by gathering information here and there.

good draw, lucky draw

nom féminin (jeu : avoir tiré une bonne carte)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

make a bad draw

locution verbale (ne pas tirer la carte escomptée) (cards)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Il a fait une mauvaise pioche avec ce 9 de trèfle.

not strike it lucky

locution verbale (figuré (faire le mauvais choix)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Il a fait une mauvaise pioche en choisissant cette file d'attente.

bad pick, bad draw

nom féminin (jeu : nouvelle carte inutile)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

bad choice, wrong choice

nom féminin (figuré (mauvais choix)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

dumbo, nitwit

nom féminin (familier (insulte) (informal, pejorative)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

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So now that you know more about the meaning of pioche in French, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in French.

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French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.