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pipe cleaner

American  

noun

  1. 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.


pipe cleaner British  

noun

  1. 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

Etymology

Origin of pipe cleaner

First recorded in 1865–70

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:

About two years after arriving in the park, P-22 appeared on trail-camera footage looking gaunt, his tail as thin as a pipe cleaner.

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 17, 2022

A pipe cleaner can be very helpful for these soft rubber bits as well, but due to its metal rod core, it should not be used on much else.

From The Verge Nov. 9, 2021

Ms Keith's fidgeting tool of choice is a pipe cleaner - simple, and quiet, if a little odd.

From BBC Jul. 22, 2019

If Forky remembers being a googly eye or a pipe cleaner or a popsicle stick, he doesn’t talk about it.

From Slate Jun. 23, 2019

“And yet, Mademoiselle, we found a pipe cleaner on the floor of the dead man’s compartment. And Colonel Arbuthnot is the only man on the train who smokes a pipe?”

From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie

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