pitch pipe


noun
  1. a small flute or reed pipe producing one or more pitches when blown into, used chiefly for establishing the proper pitch in singing or in tuning a musical instrument.

Origin of pitch pipe

1
First recorded in 1705–15

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pitch pipe in a sentence

  • Both it and the pitch-pipe used by him as leader of the choir are now resting silent in Memorial Hall.

    The Old Furniture Book | N. Hudson Moore
  • He fumbled for his pitch-pipe, and arose with a confused intention of attempting a musical exorcism.

    The Last of the Mohicans | James Fenimore Cooper
  • We cannot believe that even Caius Gracchus could, when he was warmed by passion, have listened to Licinius's pitch-pipe.

  • Then begins the hollow and flute-like modulation of a pitch-pipe within the great building.

    Field and Hedgerow | Richard Jefferies
  • He was also the first to use the pitch-pipe in order to ensure some degree of certainty in "striking up the tune" in church.

    Annals of Music in America | Henry Charles Lahee

British Dictionary definitions for pitch pipe

pitch pipe

noun
  1. a small pipe, esp one having a reed like a harmonica, that sounds a note or notes of standard frequency. It is used for establishing the correct starting note for unaccompanied singing

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