noun a person of no consequence. Calling to mind an image of someone whose principal fare is the meat pie, in other words, a person with a mundane and narrow view of the world judging by their culinary habits. It is claimed that the word was coined during World War 2, and referred then specifically to conscripted criminals who deserted and thence scrounged free pies from the army buffet in Hyde Park, Sydney. There may be some truth in this, but there is an example of 'pie-biter' dating to 1911, and so perhaps 'pie-eater' may also predate the war AUSTRALIA, 1944