pipe up

British

verb

to commence singing or playing a musical instrument

the band piped up
to speak up, esp in a shrill voice

"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

pipe up Idioms

Speak up, as in Finally she piped up, “I think I've got the winning ticket,” or Pipe up if you want more pancakes. This term originally referred to a high, piping tone. [Mid-1800s]

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:

pipe up

If his team was up big late and the opponent scored a time or two because the backups were in, Dickert’s wife, Candice would pipe up.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 5, 2023

She's not one to pipe up, Do you know who I am?

From Salon ● Jan. 1, 2023

It sounds lulling, but a full house and lounge-y soundtrack require diners to pipe up and lean in at dinner.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 25, 2022

That is: constantly lying in wait, ready to pipe up.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2019

All this time together and he had chosen an hour before we were to die to pipe up.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023