bagpipe
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of bagpipe
First recorded in 1300–50, bagpipe is from the Middle English word baggepipe. See bag, pipe 1
Explanation
A bagpipe is a musical instrument that's played by blowing into a bag through a pipe. The bagpipes are commonly associated with Scotland. It's more common to use the plural form — bagpipes — or even "the pipes" or "a set of pipes." The music produced by bagpipes is distinctive, with a constant harmonizing sound being produced by the drone pipe, and no rests between notes. The bagpipe player squeezes the bag with his arm as he blows a pipe called a chanter, and in formal situations he might wear a kilt and knee socks.
Vocabulary lists containing bagpipe
Music to My Ears: Instrumental Vocab
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Western Europe - Introductory
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Western Europe - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In addition to the more traditional Chinese performances, including lion and dragon dancers, this year’s parade featured marching bands, ballet folklórico dancers and a bagpipe troupe, highlighting the event’s theme: “Unity in the Community.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2026
"I know my lungs are in brilliant condition because of my bagpipe playing so I was really concerned."
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026
Other shows retooled their broadcasts to share fond memories of Kirk, between visual tiles crafted in tribute to his life and accompanying bursts of bagpipe processions.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2025
More than a hundred spectators watched from a hill above the garden as a bagpipe played “Amazing Grace” at the end.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2024
It is a concept that survives to this day in the music of the bagpipe.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
His son John was also a war hero, before teaching bagpiping to the people of Banbury and starting the pipe band.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
The family were music lovers, with a strong tradition of bagpiping, and they were all talented tailors, including Donnie.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2025
But bagpiping, it turns out, is a pursuit that has yet to find much of a toehold in China, meaning becoming one of those skilled hands is not easy.
From New York Times ● Feb. 12, 2022
The margins of early printed books are full of waggish doodles—a bagpiping monkey, a knight jousting with a snail.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 26, 2019
When there has been a war, and stout old Sandy Sansculotte returns home from India or Crimea, what a bagpiping, shouting, hurraying, and self-glorification takes place round about him!
From Roundabout Papers by William Makepeace Thackeray
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.
