pipe

¹

[pahyp]

noun

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

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

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

4. Music.

   1. a tube used as, or to form an essential part of, a musical wind instrument.

   2. a musical wind instrument consisting of a single tube of straw, reed, wood, or other material, as a flute, clarinet, or oboe.

   3. one of the wooden or metal tubes from which the tones of an organ are produced.

   4. a small end-blown flute played with one hand while the other beats a small drum.

5. Nautical.

   1. boatswain's pipe.

   2. the sound of a boatswain's pipe.

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

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

8. Usually pipes.

   1. Music.,  bagpipe.

   2. a set of flutes, as a panpipe.

   3. Informal.,  a tubular organ or passage of a human or animal body, especially a respiratory passage.

      to complain of congested pipes.

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

10. Mining.

    1. a cylindrical vein or body of ore.

    2. (in South Africa) a vertical, cylindrical matrix, of intrusive igneous origin, in which diamonds are found.

11. 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.

12. Botany.,  the stem of a plant.

verb (used without object)

piped, piping 

1. to play on a pipe.

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

3. to speak in a high-pitched or piercing tone.

4. to make or utter a shrill sound like that of a pipe.

   songbirds piping at dawn.

   Synonyms: tweet, twitter, trill, peep, chirp, whistle, chitter, cheep

verb (used with object)

piped, piping 

1. to convey by or as by pipes.

   to pipe water from the lake.

2. to supply with pipes.

3. to play (music) on a pipe or pipes.

4. to summon, order, etc., by sounding the boatswain's pipe or whistle.

   all hands were piped on deck.

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

   to pipe dancers.

6. to utter in a shrill tone.

   to pipe a command.

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

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

9. Informal.,  to convey by an electrical wire or cable.

   to pipe a signal from the antenna.

10. Slang.,  to look at; notice.

    Pipe the cat in the hat.

verb phrase

1. pipe down,  to stop talking; be quiet.

   He shouted at us to pipe down.

2. pipe up

   1. to begin to play (a musical instrument) or to sing.

   2. to make oneself heard; speak up, especially as to assert oneself.

   3. to increase in velocity, as the wind.

pipe

²

[pahyp]

noun

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

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

3. such a cask with its contents.

pipe

¹

/ paɪp /

noun

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

2. a long tube or case

3. 1. 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

   2. ( as modifier )

      a pipe bowl

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

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

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

   2. 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

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

8. See bagpipes

9. a shrill voice or sound, as of a bird

10. 1. a boatswain's pipe

    2. the sound it makes

11. informal,  (plural) the respiratory tract or vocal cords

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

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

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

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

16. informal,  accept that fact if you can

verb

1. to play (music) on a pipe

2. (tr) to summon or lead by a pipe

   to pipe the dancers

3. to utter (something) shrilly

4. 1. to signal orders to (the crew) by a boatswain's pipe

   2. (tr) to signal the arrival or departure of

      to pipe the admiral aboard

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

6. (tr) to provide with pipes

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

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

pipe

²

/ paɪp /

noun

1. a large cask for wine, oil, etc

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

3. a cask holding this quantity with its contents

pipe

1. A vertical cylindrical vein of ore.

2. See volcanic pipe

Other Word Forms

• pipeless adjective
• pipelike adjective
• unpiped adjective
• pipy adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pipe¹

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; peep ²

Origin of pipe²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Old French, ultimately same as pipe ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of pipe¹

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

Origin of pipe²

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

Idioms and Phrases

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

Example Sentences

Just a week earlier, in trial runs, perfumes were piped into the air so people could get a whiff of the Emerald City.

From Los Angeles Times

A primary school has not reopened for the new term after thieves stole pipes leaving the site without water.

From BBC

The women took jobs as welders, pipe fitters, and other posts that had only ever been held by men, and produced war materiel at a record clip.

From Los Angeles Times

Payton walked over to the boo birds and told them to pipe down and to be respectful around the young quarterback’s family.

From Los Angeles Times

A burst pipe has forced a zoo to close for the day and other homes in the area to be affected by water supply issues.

From BBC

Related Words

• duct 
• hose 
• line 
• pipeline 
• sewer 
• vent 
• vessel