sb. (a.) [f. CATCH- 1 + PENNY.]
1. Something (esp. a publication) of little value, designed to attract purchasers.
1760. Lond. Mag., XXIX. 36. The general run of catch penny’s upon the subject.
1785. Wesley, Wks. (1872), IV. 321. The late pretty tale of her being the Emperor’s daughter is doubtless a mere catch-penny.
1850. W. Irving, Goldsmith, x. 133. You know already by the title that it is no more than a catch-penny.
2. attrib. or adj. Designed to attract purchasers; got up merely to sell.
1759. Goldsm., Butler’s Rem., Wks. 1837, IV. 467. One of those catchpenny subscription works.
1850. L. Hunt, Autobiog., vi. (1860), 113. The catchpenny lyrics of Tom Dibdin.
1879. Geo. Eliot, Theo. Such, xiv. 257. Full of catch-penny devices and stagey attitudinising.
