pipe

¹ American  

[pahyp] / paɪp /

noun

1. a hollow cylinder of metal, wood, or other material, used for the conveyance of water, gas, steam, petroleum, etc.

2. a tube of wood, clay, hard rubber, or other material, with a small bowl at one end, used for smoking tobacco, opium, etc.

3. a quantity, as of tobacco, that fills the bowl of such a smoking utensil.

4. Music.

   1. a tube used as, or to form an essential part of, a musical wind instrument.

   2. a musical wind instrument consisting of a single tube of straw, reed, wood, or other material, as a flute, clarinet, or oboe.

   3. one of the wooden or metal tubes from which the tones of an organ are produced.

   4. a small end-blown flute played with one hand while the other beats a small drum.

5. Nautical.

   1. boatswain's pipe.

   2. the sound of a boatswain's pipe.

6. the call or utterance of a bird, frog, etc.

7. Informal. pipes, the human vocal cords or the voice, especially as used in singing.

8. Usually pipes.

   1. Music. bagpipe.

   2. a set of flutes, as a panpipe.

   3. Informal. a tubular organ or passage of a human or animal body, especially a respiratory passage.

      to complain of congested pipes.

9. any of various tubular or cylindrical objects, parts, or formations, as an eruptive passage of a volcano or geyser.

10. Mining.

    1. a cylindrical vein or body of ore.

    2. (in South Africa) a vertical, cylindrical matrix, of intrusive igneous origin, in which diamonds are found.

11. Metallurgy. a depression occurring at the center of the head of an ingot as a result of the tendency of solidification to begin at the bottom and sides of the ingot mold.

12. Botany. the stem of a plant.

---

verb (used without object)

• pipes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• piped,
  past participle,  past
• piping
  present participle

1. to play on a pipe.

2. Nautical. to signal, as with a boatswain's pipe.

3. to speak in a high-pitched or piercing tone.

4. to make or utter a shrill sound like that of a pipe.

   songbirds piping at dawn.

   Synonyms:

   tweet, twitter, trill, peep, chirp, whistle, chitter, cheep

verb (used with object)

• pipes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• piped,
  past participle,  past
• piping
  present participle

1. to convey by or as by pipes.

   to pipe water from the lake.

2. to supply with pipes.

3. to play (music) on a pipe or pipes.

4. to summon, order, etc., by sounding the boatswain's pipe or whistle.

   all hands were piped on deck.

5. to bring, lead, etc., by or as by playing on a pipe.

   to pipe dancers.

6. to utter in a shrill tone.

   to pipe a command.

7. to trim or finish with piping, as an article of clothing.

8. Cooking. to force (dough, frosting, etc.) through a pastry tube onto a baking sheet, cake or pie, etc.

9. Informal. to convey by an electrical wire or cable.

   to pipe a signal from the antenna.

10. Slang. to look at; notice.

    Pipe the cat in the hat.

verb phrase

1. pipe down to stop talking; be quiet.

   He shouted at us to pipe down.

2. pipe up

   1. to begin to play (a musical instrument) or to sing.

   2. to make oneself heard; speak up, especially as to assert oneself.

   3. to increase in velocity, as the wind.

pipe ² American  

[pahyp] / paɪp /

noun

1. a large cask, of varying capacity, especially for wine or oil.

2. such a cask as a measure of liquid capacity, equal to 4 barrels, 2 hogsheads, or half a tun, and containing 126 wine gallons.

3. such a cask with its contents.

---

pipe ¹ British  

/ paɪp /

noun

1. a long tube of metal, plastic, etc, used to convey water, oil, gas, etc

2. a long tube or case

3. 1. an object made in any of various shapes and sizes, consisting of a small bowl with an attached tubular stem, in which tobacco or other substances are smoked

   2. ( as modifier )

      a pipe bowl

4. Also called: pipeful.  the amount of tobacco that fills the bowl of a pipe

5. zoology botany any of various hollow organs, such as the respiratory passage of certain animals

6. 1. any musical instrument whose sound production results from the vibration of an air column in a simple tube

   2. any of the tubular devices on an organ, in which air is made to vibrate either directly, as in a flue pipe, or by means of a reed

7. an obsolete three-holed wind instrument, held in the left hand while played and accompanied by the tabor See tabor

8. See bagpipes

9. a shrill voice or sound, as of a bird

10. 1. a boatswain's pipe

    2. the sound it makes

11. informal (plural) the respiratory tract or vocal cords

12. metallurgy a conical hole in the head of an ingot, made by escaping gas as the metal cools

13. a cylindrical vein of rich ore, such as one of the vertical diamond-bearing veins at Kimberley, South Africa

14. Also called: volcanic pipe.  a vertical cylindrical passage in a volcano through which molten lava is forced during eruption

15. slang something easy to do, esp a simple course in college

16. informal accept that fact if you can

---

verb

1. to play (music) on a pipe

2. (tr) to summon or lead by a pipe

   to pipe the dancers

3. to utter (something) shrilly

4. 1. to signal orders to (the crew) by a boatswain's pipe

   2. (tr) to signal the arrival or departure of

      to pipe the admiral aboard

5. (tr) to convey (water, gas, etc) by a pipe or pipes

6. (tr) to provide with pipes

7. (tr) to trim (an article, esp of clothing) with piping

8. (tr) to force (cream, icing, etc) through a shaped nozzle to decorate food

pipe ² British  

/ paɪp /

noun

1. a large cask for wine, oil, etc

2. a measure of capacity for wine equal to four barrels. 1 pipe is equal to 126 US gallons or 105 Brit gallons

3. a cask holding this quantity with its contents

---

pipe Scientific  

/ pīp /

1. A vertical cylindrical vein of ore.

2. See volcanic pipe

---

pipe Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing pipe

• in the pipeline
• lead-pipe cinch
• put that in your pipe

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pipeless
  adjective
• pipelike
  adjective
• pipy
  adjective
• unpiped
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• piping
  present
• piped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• pipe
  simple
• pipes
  simple
• have piped
  perfect
• has piped
  perfect
• am piping
  progressive
• are piping
  progressive
• is piping
  progressive
• have been piping
  perfect progressive
• has been piping
  perfect progressive

Past

• piped
  simple
• had piped
  perfect
• was piping
  progressive
• were piping
  progressive
• had been piping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will pipe
  simple
• will have piped
  perfect
• will be piping
  progressive
• will have been piping
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of pipe¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English noun pipe, pip, pippe, Old English pīpe “musical pipe, tube” (cognate with Dutch pijp, Low German pīpe, German Pfeife, Old Norse pīpa ), from Vulgar Latin pīpa (unrecorded), back formation from Latin pīpāre “to chirp, play a pipe”; Middle English verb pipen; in part continuing Old English pīpian “to play a pipe,” from Latin pīpāre; in part from Old French piper “to make a shrill sound,” from Latin pīpāre; cf. peep ²

Origin of pipe²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Old French, ultimately same as pipe ¹

Explanation

A pipe is a hollow tube that liquid flows through. When your kitchen pipes get clogged, call a plumber. A pipe is also something to put tobacco in and smoke. Old pictures of Santa show him smoking a pipe. Water moves through pipes before it comes flowing out of your faucets. Other substances, like oil and gas, also flow through pipes. These pipes are usually made of metal or a very sturdy kind of plastic. Other kinds of pipes include the ones you make music with and the one your uncle has to smoke outside, because it's so smelly. Pipe comes from the Vulgar Latin pipa, "tube-shaped musical instrument."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pipe pipes piped piping

That permit allows about 2,000 feet of pipe from the border to a nearby shut-off valve.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Getting this bill through the House is not a pipe dream.

From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026

A burst pipe in Beverly Grove sent water flowing down the street on Sunday morning, threatening parked vehicles and forcing some water services in the area to be shut off.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026

The kitchen was mostly finished two years later in 2024 when subcontractors damaged a pipe, which set them back again.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

Roz noticed a drainage pipe that crossed under the road.

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

The water that flows through the pipes to us is made safe in part by physics—a pressure loss can lead to backflow of groundwater, sewage, and soil contaminants.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026

“There are PVC pipes, wires and a railway tie underneath the water and occasionally some metal.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

The workers discovered the gold when they were in the process of laying sewage pipes for the new shelter homes set to be built there.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Among the tanks, pipes, and clotheslines, each family has carved out its own space.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

They placed a large container of ice in one room of the White House and connected it to the sickroom with tin pipes.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

When the sisters asked the dozens of us crowded into a small room what we wanted for our final song, I piped up: “How about ‘Country Roads’?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

They look bakery-case fancy, especially once the ricotta is piped, but the actual labor involved is satisfyingly minimal.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026

One member piped up, "you might want to rethink that line over here".

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

But it has historically been piped via neighbouring Sudan.

From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026

“I tried to stop them,” the desk clerk piped up.

From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have also managed to route millions of barrels a day around the blockade by piping them across the desert to the Gulf of Oman or the Red Sea.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

The vineyard has a system of piping spread across 1.85 hectares of the vines, which steadily drips water onto the ground around the plants' roots, and is turned on every few days.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

You can also use a resealable plastic baggie with the corner snipped as a makeshift piping bag.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026

Also make sure hot food is served piping hot, health officials say, and cold food should be kept thoroughly chilled.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

A great stone monster with wide-spread wings stood with its mouth open and you could still see a bit of piping at the back of its mouth, out of which the water used to pour.

From "The Magician's Nephew" by C. S. Lewis

Related Words

• duct
• hose
• line
• pipeline
• sewer
• vent
• vessel