PENNY-WISE • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Penny-wise

... nation so young, and so far from the warring peoples of Europe, to maintain a navy at all. A few gunboats to guard the coast would be enough. All the consequences of the reduction of the navy at the close of the Revolution were forgotten in an instant. A penny-wise and pound-foolish spirit came over all the political leaders; and the Democratic party, then newly come into power, determined to endear itself to the hearts of the people by cutting down the expenses of the Government, and to this end they attacked first the appropriations ...

— The Naval History of the United States - Volume 1 (of 2) • Willis J. Abbot