pipe dream
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noun
any fantastic notion, hope, or story: Her plans for a movie career are just a pipe dream.
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Origin of pipe dream
An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900
Words nearby pipe dream
pipe clay, pipe cleaner, pipe cutter, piped music, pipe down, pipe dream, pipefish, pipe fitter, pipe fitting, pipeful, pipe jacking
Definition for pipe dream (2 of 2)
pipe-dream
[ pahyp-dreem ]
/ ˈpaɪpˌdrim /
verb (used without object), pipe-dreamed or pipe-dreamt, pipe-dream·ing.
to indulge in pipe dreams; fantasize.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
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British Dictionary definitions for pipe dream
pipe dream
noun
a fanciful or impossible plan or hope
Word Origin for pipe dream
alluding to dreams produced by smoking an opium 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
Idioms and Phrases with pipe dream
pipe dream
A fantastic notion or vain hope, as in I'd love to have one home in the mountains and another at the seashore, but that's just a pipe dream. Alluding to the fantasies induced by smoking an opium pipe, this term has been used more loosely since the late 1800s.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.