pipe

[ pahyp ]

/ paɪp /

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See synonyms for: pipe / piping on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

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

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

Music.

a tube used as, or to form an essential part of, a musical wind instrument.
a musical wind instrument consisting of a single tube of straw, reed, wood, or other material, as a flute, clarinet, or oboe.
one of the wooden or metal tubes from which the tones of an organ are produced.
a small end-blown flute played with one hand while the other beats a small drum.

Nautical.

boatswain's pipe.
the sound of a boatswain's pipe.

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

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

Usually pipes.

Music. bagpipe.
a set of flutes, as a panpipe.
Informal. a tubular organ or passage of a human or animal body, especially a respiratory passage: to complain of congested pipes.

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

Mining.

a cylindrical vein or body of ore.
(in South Africa) a vertical, cylindrical matrix, of intrusive igneous origin, in which diamonds are found.

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.

Botany. the stem of a plant.

verb (used without object), piped, pip·ing.

to play on a pipe.

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

to speak in a high-pitched or piercing tone.

to make or utter a shrill sound like that of a pipe: songbirds piping at dawn.

verb (used with object), piped, pip·ing.

to convey by or as by pipes: to pipe water from the lake.

to supply with pipes.

to play (music) on a pipe or pipes.

to summon, order, etc., by sounding the boatswain's pipe or whistle: all hands were piped on deck.

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

to utter in a shrill tone: to pipe a command.

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

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

Informal. to convey by an electrical wire or cable: to pipe a signal from the antenna.

Slang. to look at; notice: Pipe the cat in the hat.

Verb Phrases

pipe down, Slang. to stop talking; be quiet: He shouted at us to pipe down.

pipe up,

to begin to play (a musical instrument) or to sing.
to make oneself heard; speak up, especially as to assert oneself.
to increase in velocity, as the wind.

OTHER WORDS FOR pipe

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

See synonyms for pipe on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of pipe

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. peep²

OTHER WORDS FROM pipe

pipeless, adjectivepipelike, adjectiveun·piped, adjective

Other definitions for pipe (2 of 2)

pipe²

[ pahyp ]

/ paɪp /

noun

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

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

such a cask with its contents.

Origin of pipe

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Old French, ultimately same as pipe¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use pipe in a sentence

Hamby campaigned to “Stop the San Diego Pipeline” in YouTube political ads, where he stood clad in Ray Bans before a pipe trailered into a lush field.
Outsiders Are Wary of San Diego’s Multibillion-Dollar Pipeline Plan|MacKenzie Elmer|November 17, 2020|Voice of San Diego
The chemical probably was released by plastic pipes that melted during the fire.
Technology and natural hazards clash to create ‘natech’ disasters|Megan Sever|November 13, 2020|Science News
In the shadow of today’s dominant platforms, it may seem like a pipe dream, but there are already examples of successful businesses fighting the current.
Can the Ownership Economy Fix Internet Platforms?|Singularity Hub Staff|November 12, 2020|Singularity Hub
As instrumental solo albums by heavy-metal pipe organists go, this new one from Anna von Hausswolff is easy to like.
Maybe go stare at a tree and listen to Anna von Hausswolff play the pipe organ|Chris Richards|November 12, 2020|Washington Post

In Europe, tighter regulations over what e-commerce platforms sell are coming down the pipe.
Europe urges e-commerce platforms to share data in fight against coronavirus scams|Natasha Lomas|November 6, 2020|TechCrunch
For the enormous quantities of clean water that are piped in, an equal amount of sewage is piped out.
The Secret to Tracking Ebola, MERS, and Flu? Sewers|Wudan Yan|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One observer recalled them hitting the ground “like melons,” as the music piped into the plaza played “How Deep Is Your Love?”
The Resilient City: New York After 9/11|John Avlon|September 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
School administrators piped in about just what sort of sex ed their school provided (second hint: even less).
Debunking the ‘Virgin Birth’ Myth|Kent Sepkowitz|December 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
They were piped up out of the earth in a time before any witness was, but here they are.
The Best Scenes From Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Counselor’ Screenplay|Thomas Flynn|October 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
All the water has to be piped in, and there is no obvious source.
Qatar's Bad Bet In The West Bank|Ali Gharib|March 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In a calm moment that followed the child piped, without taking down her hands.
The Campfire Girls of Roselawn|Margaret Penrose
Mains were laid down the middle of the streets and from these the water was piped into the houses.
The Private Life of the Romans|Harold Whetstone Johnston
After the finish in the lower bay the wind piped up, the sea got up, and all raced hard for home.
Yachting Vol. 2|Various.
His hands were thrust into his pockets, as they usually were, and he piped out "Good-Morning" in a high tenor voice.
A Hoosier Chronicle|Meredith Nicholson
So they went by the sea margin, and the man piped the song of the morrow, and the leaves followed behind them as they went.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume XXI|Robert Louis Stevenson

British Dictionary definitions for pipe (1 of 2)

pipe¹

/ (paɪp) /

noun

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

a long tube or case

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
(as modifier)a pipe bowl

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

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

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

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

the pipes See bagpipes

a shrill voice or sound, as of a bird

a boatswain's pipe
the sound it makes

(plural) informal the respiratory tract or vocal cords

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

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

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

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

put that in your pipe and smoke it informal accept that fact if you can

verb

to play (music) on a pipe

(tr) to summon or lead by a pipeto pipe the dancers

to utter (something) shrilly

to signal orders to (the crew) by a boatswain's pipe
(tr) to signal the arrival or departure ofto pipe the admiral aboard

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

(tr) to provide with pipes

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

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

Derived forms of pipe

pipeless, adjectivepipy, adjective

Word Origin for pipe

Old English pīpe (n), pīpian (vb), ultimately from Latin pīpāre to chirp

British Dictionary definitions for pipe (2 of 2)

pipe²

/ (paɪp) /

noun

a large cask for wine, oil, etc

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

a cask holding this quantity with its contents

Word Origin for pipe

C14: via Old French (in the sense: tube, tubular vessel), ultimately from Latin pīpāre to chirp; compare pipe 1

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

Scientific definitions for pipe

pipe

[ pīp ]

A vertical cylindrical vein of ore.

See volcanic pipe.

Other Idioms and Phrases with pipe

pipe

In addition to the idioms beginning with pipe

pipe down
pipe dream
pipe up

also see:

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

pipe

OTHER WORDS FOR pipe

Origin of pipe

OTHER WORDS FROM pipe

Other definitions for pipe (2 of 2)

Origin of pipe

Words related to pipe

How to use pipe in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pipe (1 of 2)

Derived forms of pipe

Word Origin for pipe

British Dictionary definitions for pipe (2 of 2)

Word Origin for pipe

Scientific definitions for pipe

Other Idioms and Phrases with pipe