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Pigeonhole - Definition and Overview |
| Related Words: Analyze, Bibliography, Blood, Blowhole, Book, Bracket, Branch, Bunghole, Calendar, Caste, Catalog, Category, Clan, Class, Codify |
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Literally, a pigeonhole is a small hole in a loft, the nesting-place of a pigeon. This has led to two metaphorical uses:
- The term pigeonholing is used to describe processes which attempt to classify disparate entities into a small number of mutually exclusive categories, named for the idea that each pigeon must go into a pigeonhole, but can only be in one hole at a time.
- The pigeonhole principle is a mathematical principle based on the observation that when there are more pigeons than pigeonholes, two pigeons must end up in the same hole.
A 'pigeonhole' can also be a small compartment for holding papers.
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