pi-pa

[ pee-pah ]

/ ˈpiˈpɑ /

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noun

a short-necked fretted lute of Chinese origin.

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Origin of pi-pa

1840–50; <Chinese píba or pípa lute (literally, loquat, which it resembles in shape)

Words nearby pi-pa

piopio, piosity, pious, Piozzi, pip, pi-pa, pipage, pipal, pipe, pipe bomb, pipe clay

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pi-pa in a sentence

Phonetic, made-up lyrics are another venerable tradition of folk music, and “pa-rum-pa-pa-pum” is iconic of the genre.
Yes, I Like Christmas Music. Stop Laughing.|Michael Tomasky|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
No one was prepared to hear what the ships captain told them over the PA system.
Inside the Cruise Ship Quarantined Over Ebola Fear|Carol McKinley|October 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Did you have to intern and PA on a lot of films before breaking through?
Octavia Spencer on Hollywood and Race: The Film Roles I’m Offered Are Too Small|Marlow Stern|July 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Charles raised a quizzical eyebrow and it fell to his son to tell him, "Pa, you should be pleased!"
William Tells Dad, "You're Buff, Pa!"|Tom Sykes|July 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Former Club for Growth president and now Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) is also a former supporter of the Ex-Im Bank.
Conservative Support for the Export-Import Bank Turned to Hate|Tim Mak|June 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Pa says if your folks had so many children as he has and some of 'em got away he wouldn't offer no reward for 'em, he wouldn't.
Dorothy at Skyrie|Evelyn Raymond
Ma she says there's consid'able difference in their ways, though; 'cause Seth he works, constant, an' pa he never does a stroke.
Dorothy at Skyrie|Evelyn Raymond
"Pa" is somewhat proud of his boy, and Charles was of course elaborately gotten up for so great an occasion.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
Pa Babcock affirmed the tale and declared that this was why he had left off working on the haunted farm.
Dorothy at Skyrie|Evelyn Raymond
And then you go to your pa and tell him the deacon wants to make up, and begs his pardon out and out.
Scattergood Baines|Clarence Budington Kelland

British Dictionary definitions for pi-pa

pipa

/ (ˈpiːpə) /

noun

a tongueless South American toad, Pipa pipa, that carries its young in pits in the skin of its back

Word Origin for pipa

C18: from Surinam dialect, probably of African origin

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