piker
UK[ˈpaɪkə]US[ˈpaɪkər]
n
A person who does things in a small, slow, or ungenerous way; a cheapskate.
n
A cautious or timid gambler, especially one who makes very small bets.
n
(Australian & New Zealand, informal, dated) A person who avoids work or shirks responsibility; a vagrant.
Morpheme Breakdown
pike
er
pike
to go away, to shirk
er
agent suffix
Etymology
The term 'piker' emerged in 19th-century American slang, drawing from an obscure British dialect verb 'to pike,' meaning to depart or shirk one's duty. This verb itself may be connected to the image of a vagrant 'taking the pike' (i.e., the turnpike road). The '-er' agent suffix straightforwardly creates a noun for a person who exhibits this behavior. Over time, the core concept of shirking or avoiding expanded metaphorically to describe someone who is stingy with money or timid in ventures, such as gambling, cementing its modern sense of a petty or ungenerous individual.
Analysis
Structure: pike (to go away, to shirk) + er (agent suffix)
pike: Origin uncertain, likely from a British dialect verb 'pike' meaning 'to go away' or 'to shirk', possibly related to the noun 'pike' (a weapon) in the sense of 'taking to the road'.
er: A native English agent suffix from Old English '-ere', of Germanic origin, used to form nouns denoting a person who performs an action.
Examples
Don't be such a piker and contribute a fair share to the gift.
He was known as a piker at the poker table, never raising the stakes.
The boss fired the piker who always found an excuse to leave work early.