tailpipe

American

[teyl-pahyp] / ˈteɪlˌpaɪp /

Or tail pipe

noun

an exhaust pipe located at the rear of a motor vehicle or aircraft powered by an internal-combustion engine.

tailpipe British

/ ˈteɪlˌpaɪp /

noun

a pipe from which the exhaust gases from an internal-combustion engine are discharged, esp the terminal pipe of the exhaust system of a motor vehicle

"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

Etymology

Origin of tailpipe

1880–85, in sense, “suction pipe of a pump”; 1905–10 for current sense; tail ¹ + pipe ¹

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.

SAF still produces tailpipe emissions when it is burned to power planes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

That’s comparable to removing the tailpipe pollution of 100 cars for one year.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2026

It is the heaviest mass-market car in the world, and, being all electric, it did not have a single molecule of carbon dioxide flaring from the tailpipe.

From Slate • Jun. 22, 2025

The “State of the Air” report tracks two main types of air pollution: ozone pollution, largely a factor of tailpipe emissions and heat, and particle pollution, driven primarily by drought and wildfires.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2025

As soon as I put the rat down, he scooted under the tailpipe and out of sight on the other side of the car.

From "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli

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