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• piper
  piper

  noun

  a person who plays on a pipe.
• Piper
  Piper

  noun

  John. 1903–92, British artist. An official war artist in World War II, he is known esp for his watercolours of bombed churches and his stained glass in Coventry Cathedral

piper

American  

[pahy-per] / ˈpaɪ pər /

noun

• pipers
  plural

1. a person who plays on a pipe.

2. a bagpiper.

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idioms

1. pay the piper,

   1. to pay the cost of something.

   2. to bear the unfavorable consequences of one's actions or pleasures.

      Someday he'll have to pay the piper for all that gambling.

piper ¹ British  

/ ˈpaɪpə /

noun

1. a person who plays a pipe or bagpipes

2. to bear the cost of an undertaking and control it

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Piper ² British  

/ ˈpaɪpə /

noun

1. John. 1903–92, British artist. An official war artist in World War II, he is known esp for his watercolours of bombed churches and his stained glass in Coventry Cathedral

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piper More Idioms  

1. see call the tune (pay the piper).

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pipers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of piper

before 1000; Middle English; Old English pīpere. See pipe ¹, -er ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

piper Piper pipers

“Not Trad” is overtly Celtic, with a marching melody that could be played by a piper and a thumping drum that seems appropriate for a celebration.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026

A neo-traditionalist and pied piper for the New York downtown set, Keith and his nine lives most recently turned to Instagram after a stroke impaired his ability to speak.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025

So to some degree, it’s a question of when the piper will be paid, not if the piper will be paid.

From Slate ● Nov. 3, 2025

A piper will play the lament "Sleep, Dearie, Sleep", which was played at the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2025

Once, I saw a boy stagger after him, but the piper was going too fast.

From "Milkweed" by Jerry Spinelli

“The bar for them to do something later this year is not that high,” said Kurt Lewis, a former senior Fed adviser now at Piper Sandler.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

Mike Bremner took off in a Piper PA-28 Cherokee airplane from Orange County’s John Wayne Airport just before 2 p.m.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

James Piper, co-host of the Talking Rubbish podcast, co-owner of Ecosurety, said he dislikes BuzzBallz because of how difficult they are to recycle.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

“Earnings growth has been the primary driver of market performance this year,” wrote a Piper Sandler team led by chief investment strategist Michael Kantrowitz.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

Her words stung like sleet, mostly because Piper had had the same thoughts herself.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Serving military personnel, the grandson of British Commander Field Marshal Montgomery and pipers from the Jedburgh Pipe Band marched with the schoolchildren.

From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026

As well as a memorial, there are also plans for a scholarship in Laidlaw's name to encourage the next generation of pipers.

From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2025

During WW2, pipers were used by the 51st Highland Division at the start of the Battle of El Alamein in October 1942.

From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2025

International pipers dressed in green and yellow marched their way from Bayeux Cathedral to the Great Vigil at the Commonwealth War Grave Commission’s Bayeux War Cemetery.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 6, 2024

And I sat in the bow of our landed skiff and watched as plovers and pipers stenciled the sand with their quick feet, in search of bugs and baby crabs.

From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk