pipe cleaner

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noun

a short length of twisted flexible wires covered with tufted fabric, used to clean the stem of a smoker's pipe and for various handicrafts.

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Origin of pipe cleaner

First recorded in 1865–70

Words nearby pipe cleaner

pipage, pipal, pipe, pipe bomb, pipe clay, pipe cleaner, pipe cutter, piped music, pipe down, pipe dream, pipefish

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

How to use pipe cleaner in a sentence

If you’re crafty and have some green pipe cleaners, you can even make it vaguely resemble a pumpkin.
Hear Me Out: There Should Be More Bread at Thanksgiving|Dayna Evans|November 16, 2021|Eater
Twist the pipe cleaners or twist ties together and cut them to the same width as the mask.
How to make face masks for kids and adults—no sewing machine required|empire|August 12, 2021|Popular-Science
Soak all feeder parts in a sink with one cup of vinegar to two cups of hot water, then scrub them with a thin-bristle brush or pipe cleaner and dry them thoroughly before filling and rehanging the feeder.
Your dirty bird feeder could be spreading disease|Melissa Hart|February 9, 2021|Washington Post
I was drawn to The Class for different reasons—chiefly, the pipe dream of achieving a tighter and tauter backside.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

And then I said, ‘Well, chief, when the admiral comes aboard, the first mate has to pipe him in.’
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
It would be like if after the 40th pipe in Flappy Bird was a scarecrow.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There was poop humor—literally—when Valerie's house becomes flooded with fecal matter after a pipe bursts.
‘The Comeback’ Finale: Give Lisa Kudrow All of the Awards|Kevin Fallon|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
All it needs is one more “pipe” to select and transmit the crucial information.
Red Tape and Black Boxes: Why We Keep ‘Losing’ Airliners in 2014|Clive Irving|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Aristide washed and powdered Jean himself, the landlord lounging by, pipe in mouth, administering suggestions.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
Drone: the largest tube of a bag-pipe, giving forth a dull heavy tone.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift
The pipe has a modern look and is altogether unlike those found by the English in use among the Indians in Virginia.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
“Now this is what I call real felicity,” observed the major, pulling out a pipe which he proceeded to fill.
Hunting the Lions|R.M. Ballantyne
“With pleasure, my dear fellow,” said the major puffing vigorously for a few moments to get his pipe well alight.
Hunting the Lions|R.M. Ballantyne

British Dictionary definitions for pipe cleaner

pipe cleaner

noun

a short length of thin wires twisted so as to hold tiny tufts of yarn: used to clean the stem of a tobacco pipe

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