pitch pipe

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noun

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.

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Also called tuning pipe.

Origin of pitch pipe

First recorded in 1705–15

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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.
Practical Education, Volume II|Maria Edgeworth
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

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