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• piper
  piper

  noun

  a person who plays on a pipe.
• Piper
  Piper

  noun

  John. 1903–92, British artist. An official war artist in World War II, he is known esp for his watercolours of bombed churches and his stained glass in Coventry Cathedral

piper

American  

[pahy-per] / ˈpaɪ pər /

noun

• pipers
  plural

1. 

   a person who plays on a pipe.

2. a bagpiper.

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idioms

1. pay the piper,

   1. to pay the cost of something.

   2. to bear the unfavorable consequences of one's actions or pleasures.

      Someday he'll have to pay the piper for all that gambling.

piper ¹ British  

/ ˈpaɪpə /

noun

1. a person who plays a pipe or bagpipes

2. to bear the cost of an undertaking and control it

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Piper ² British  

/ ˈpaɪpə /

noun

1. John. 1903–92, British artist. An official war artist in World War II, he is known esp for his watercolours of bombed churches and his stained glass in Coventry Cathedral

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piper More Idioms  

1. see call the tune (pay the piper).

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pipers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of piper

before 1000; Middle English; Old English pīpere. See pipe ¹, -er ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

piper Piper pipers

The parliament's piper, MSP Stuart McMillan, brought the event to a close with a performance in the members' garden of Bonnie Dundee and a Hundred Pipers.

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026

The atmosphere has been building at the Haven Bar - Boston's only Scottish pub - with a piper playing the US national anthem and extra Scottish beer shipped in.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

“Not Trad” is overtly Celtic, with a marching melody that could be played by a piper and a thumping drum that seems appropriate for a celebration.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026

A neo-traditionalist and pied piper for the New York downtown set, Keith and his nine lives most recently turned to Instagram after a stroke impaired his ability to speak.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025

At the center of the maze, a piper is playing a lilting, wild song.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black

The Piper Tomahawk II aircraft took off from Glasgow Airport on Friday afternoon at 16:17.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

Kurt Lewis, head of central-bank policy at Piper Sandler, thinks the Fed will move three times and then assess the outlook for inflation.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

When McCormick asked them to explain the connection to Pied Piper, she said, “they didn’t know. It’s AI.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

My friend Tamia Boyd said she didn’t know that mild tartar buildup on the teeth of her 11-year-old Maltese-Yorkie-poodle mix, Piper, counted as a pre-existing condition.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

“Two: Piper Milly’s winning science project was absurd. Shooting marbles at an unbaked cake? That’s just sad. Three, and most importantly: Piper Milly is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a person who excels.”

From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein

The Laidlaw Memorial Pipe Band is named after David Laidlaw, who remains one of just three pipers to be awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroics in the First World War.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

A “spectacular evening” followed which ended with pipers marching around the dinner table, according to the British ambassador to Bahrain, Alastair Long, on Instagram.

From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2024

International pipers dressed in green and yellow marched their way from Bayeux Cathedral to the Great Vigil at the Commonwealth War Grave Commission’s Bayeux War Cemetery.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 6, 2024

Even more people, along with a band of pipers playing “Scotland the Brave,” greeted her when she disembarked at Euston Station.

From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2023

And I sat in the bow of our landed skiff and watched as plovers and pipers stenciled the sand with their quick feet, in search of bugs and baby crabs.

From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk

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