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Pied Piper

American  

noun

  1. the hero of a German folk legend, popularized in The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1842) by Robert Browning.

  2. Sometimes pied piper a person who induces others to follow or imitate them, especially by means of false or extravagant promises.

Pied Piper British  

noun

  1. Also called: the Pied Piper of Hamelin.  (in German legend) a piper who rid the town of Hamelin of rats by luring them away with his music and then, when he was not paid for his services, lured away its children

  2. (sometimes not capitals) a person who entices others to follow him

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.