FromMiddle Englishpīpe,pype(“hollow cylinder or tube used as a conduit or container; duct or vessel of the body; musical instrument; financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, pipe roll”), fromOld Englishpīpe(“pipe (musical instrument); the channel of a small stream”),^[1] fromProto-West Germanic*pīpā. Reinforced byVulgar Latin*pīpa, fromLatinpipire,pipiare,pipare, frompīpiō(“to chirp, peep”), ofimitative origin.Doublet offife.

The “storage container” and “liquid measure” senses are derived fromMiddle Englishpīpe(“large storage receptacle, particularly for wine; cask, vat; measure of volume”), frompīpe (above) andOld Frenchpipe(“liquid measure”).^[2] In specific contexts,calques similar units of measure such asPortuguesepipa.

The verb is fromMiddle Englishpīpen,pypyn(“to play a pipe; to make a shrill sound; to speak with a high-pitched tone”), fromOld Englishpīpian(“to pipe”).^[3]

• (Received Pronunciation,General American)IPA^(key):/paɪp/

• Audio(General American):

  (file)

• Audio(General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-aɪp

pipe (pluralpipes)

1. Meanings relating to a wind instrument.
   2. (music) Awind instrument consisting of atube, oftenlined withholes to allow foradjustment inpitch,sounded byblowing into the tube.[from 10th c.]
      • 1913, “Danny Boy: Song Adapted from an Old Irish Air”,Fred[eric] E[dward] Weatherly (lyrics), New York, N.Y., London:Boosey & Co […],→OCLC,page 1:

        Oh, Danny boy, thepipes, thepipes are calling
        From glen to glen, and down the mountain side,
        The summer's gone and all the roses falling,
        It's you, it's you must go and I must bide.

   3. (music) A tube used toproducesound in anorgan; anorgan pipe.[from 14th c.]
      • 1980,Harvey E[lliott] White, Donald H. White, “Wind Instruments”, inPhysics and Music: The Science of Musical Sound, Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders College Pub./Holt, Rinehart and Winston,→ISBN, page245; republished Mineola, N.Y.:Dover Publications,2014,→ISBN, part 3 (Musical Instruments), section 18.7 (The Theater Organ),page245:

        Most theater organs use many sets (ranks) of reed and fluepipes of various shapes,pipe scales, and so forth to generate a variety of timbres.

   4. Thekey or sound of thevoice.[from 16th c.]
      • c.1601–1602 (date written),William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act I, scene iv],page257, column 2:

        For they ſhall yet belye thy happy yeeres,
        That ſay thou art a man:Dianas lip
        Is not more ſmooth, and rubious: thy ſmallpipe
        Is as the maidens organ, ſhrill, and ſound,
        And all is ſemblatiue a womans part.

   5. Ahigh-pitched sound, especially of abird.[from 18th c.]
      • 1847,Alfred Tennyson, “Part IV”, inThe Princess: A Medley, London:Edward Moxon, […],→OCLC,pages66–67:

        Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
        The earliestpipe of half-awaken'd birds
        To dying ears, when unto dying eyes
        The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
        So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.

2. Meanings relating to a hollow conduit.
   1. Arigid tube thattransportswater,steam, or otherfluid, as used inplumbing and numerous otherapplications.[from 10th c.]
      • 2006, Richard M. Tanner, “Lockheed Tristar: Single-point Tanker”, inHistory of Air-to-air Refuelling, Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Aviation,Pen & Sword Books,→ISBN, part 2 (Technology),page286, column 1:

        A standard Flight Refuelling Ltd Mk 8 probe nozzle was attached to the probe structural tube and fuelpipe. Thepipe was double-walled, and passed through into the fuselage aft of the flight deck;[…] A non-return valve was fitted within the fuelpipe aft of the probe nozzle, thus preventing any leakage of fuel if the aircraft lost the probe nozzle inadvertently.

      1. (especially ininformal contexts) Awater pipe.

         A burstpipe flooded my bathroom.

         • 2000, Richard L. Valentineet al., “Chlorine and Monochloramine Decay in Batch and Loop Experiments”, inThe Role of the Pipe–Water Interface in DBP Formation and Disinfectant Loss, Iowa City, Ia.:University of Iowa,→ISBN,page115:

           Corrosion control can be accomplished in distribution systems by adding compounds that form a protective film on thepipe surface, thereby providing a barrier between the water and thepipe.

   2. Atubularpassageway in the human body such as ablood vessel or thewindpipe.[from 14th c.]
      • 1802,William Paley, “Of the Vessels of Animal Bodies”, inNatural Theology or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, Philadelphia, Pa.: John Morgan, […],→OCLC,pages125–126:

        Amongst thevessels of the human body, thepipe which conveys the saliva from the place where it is made, to the place where it is wanted, deserves to be reckoned amongst the most intelligible pieces of mechanism with which we are acquainted.

   3. (slang) Aman'spenis.
      • 2006, Monique A. Williams,Neurotica: An Honest Examination into Urban Sexual Relations,[Morrisville, N.C.]:Lulu Enterprises,→ISBN, page 7:

        He grabs my legs and throws them over his shoulders, putting his bigpipe inside me[…]

      • 2010, Eric Summers, editor,Teammates, Sarasota, Fla.: StarBooks,→ISBN, page90:

        He punctuated his demand with a deep thrust up CJ's hole. His giantpipe drove almost all the way in, pulsing against his fingers beside it.

      • 2011, Mickey Erlach,Gym Buddies & Buff Boys, Sarasota, Fla.: StarBooks,→ISBN, page64:

        He laughed as he knelt down between Duncan's splayed thighs and tore open a packaged condom, then rolled it down over his big fuck-pipe.

3. Meanings relating to a container.
   2. A largecontainer forstoringliquids orfoodstuffs; now especially avat orcask ofcider orwine.(See a diagram comparing cask sizes.)[from 14th c.]

      Meronym:pipestave

      • 1808–10,William Hickey,Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 329:

        Mr Barretto informed us he had shipped two hundred and fortypipes of Madeira [which] not only impeded the ship's progress by making her too deep in the water, but greatly increased her motion.

      • 1846,Edgar Allan Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado”, inThe Works of Edgar Allan Poe, volume I, New York: W. J. Widdleton, published1849,page347,→OCLC:

        My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day! But I have received apipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts.

   4. Thecontents of such avessel, as aliquid measure, sometimes set at 126wine gallons;half atun.[from 14th c.]

      Synonym:butt

      Coordinate terms:(in order of increasing volume)rundlet;barrel;tierce;hogshead;puncheon,tertian;tun

      • 1882,James E[dwin] Thorold Rogers, “Weights and Measures”, inA History of Agriculture and Prices in England from the Year after the Oxford Parliament (1259) to the Commencement of the Continental War (1793) […], volumesIV (1401–1582), Oxford: At theClarendon Press,→OCLC,page205:

        Again, by 28 Hen. VIII, cap. 14, it is re-enacted that the tun of wine should contain 252 gallons, a butt of Malmsey 126 gallons, apipe 126 gallons, a tercian or puncheon 84 gallons, a hogshead 63 gallons, a tierce 41 gallons, a barrel 31½ gallons, a rundlet 18½ gallons.

4. Meanings relating to something resembling a tube.
   1. Decorativeedgingstitched to thehems orseams of an object made offabric (clothing,hats,curtains,pillows, etc.), often in acontrastingcolor;piping.[from 15th c.]
   2. A type ofpasta similar tomacaroni.
   3. (geology) Averticalconduit through theEarth'scrust below avolcano through whichmagma has passed, oftenfilled with volcanicbreccia.[from 19th c.]
      • 1995 March,Jon Bowermaster, “Diamond Rush in the Arctic”, in Fred Abatemarco, editor,Popular Science, volume246, number 3, New York, N.Y.:Times Mirror Magazines,→ISSN,→OCLC,page83, columns2–3:

        While thepipe of a conventional volcano may extend down 50 miles or so, the volcanicpipes that pick up diamonds along the way had to go much deeper, perhaps as deep as 300 miles.

      • 2018,Tim Flannery,Europe: A Natural History, page54:

        Some researchers think that the warming was caused as kimberlitepipes (volcanic vents originating deep in the Earth’s mantle) reached the surface near Lac de Gras in northern Canada and released huge amounts of carbon.

   4. (lacrosse) One of thegoalposts of thegoal.
   5. (mining) Anelongated orirregular body orvein ofore.[from 17th c.]
   6. (Australia,colloquial,historical) Ananonymoussatire oressay,insulting and frequentlylibellous,written on a piece ofpaper which wasrolled up and left somewherepublic where it could befound and thusspread, toembarrass theauthor'senemies.[from 19th c.]
      • 1818 September 26, “Sydney.[Criminal Court.]”, inSydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, volume XVI, number775, Sydney, N.S.W.: By authority[government printer],→OCLC,page 3, columns2–3:

        On Thursday Mr.William Bland, formerly a Surgeon in the Royal Navy,[…] was brought to trial on a charge of libelling the Governor [Lachlan Macquarie], by the composition and publishing of various letters and verses contained in a manuscript book dropped on the Parramatta Road—and thence brought to light.[…] [H]owever lenient the sentence passed upon this young man, yet, it is much to be hoped, that from his examplepipe-making will in future be reposed solely in the hands of Mr. Wm. Cluer [an earthenware pipe maker] of the Brickfield Hill.

5. Meanings relating to computing.
   1. (computing) Amechanism thatenables oneprogram tocommunicate with another bysending itsoutput to the other asinput.[from 20th c.]
   2. (computing,slang) Adata backbone, orbroadbandInternetaccess.[from 20th c.]

      A fatpipe is a high-bandwidth connection.

   3. (computing,typography) Thecharacter|.[from 20th c.]
      • 2001 July 13, JimmyMac, “java and xml”, incomp.lang.java.help‎^[1] (Usenet):

        While parseing an xml document( sax parser ), trying to replace ' | ' with ' & ' , it finds thepipe, but won't replace with amper.

7. Meanings relating to a smoking implement.
   1. (smoking) Ahollowstem with abowl at one end used forsmoking, especially atobacco pipe but also including various other forms such as awater pipe.[from 16th c.]
      • 1843 December 19,Charles Dickens, “Stave Four. The Last of the Spirits.”, inA Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London:Chapman & Hall, […],→OCLC,page129:

        Sitting in among the wares he dealt in, by a charcoal-stove, made of old bricks, was a gray-haired rascal, nearly seventy years of age; who had screened himself from the cold air without, by a frousy curtaining of miscellaneous tatters, hung upon a line; and smoked hispipe in all the luxury of calm retirement.

      • 1892,Walter Besant, “The Select Circle”, inThe Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.:Harper & Brothers, […],→OCLC,page46:

        In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle—a club, or society, ofhabitués, who met every evening for apipe and a cheerful glass.

   2. (Canada,US,colloquial,historical) Thedistancetravelled between tworestperiods during which one couldsmoke a pipe.[from 18th c.]
8. (slang) Atelephone.

   Synonym:blower

   • 1980, Charles D. Taylor,Show of Force:

     “Let's try to get on thepipe to Admiral Collier again.”

• (tube):SeeThesaurus:tube
• (typography):bar,vertical bar,vertical line,virgule(marking metrical feet)
• (lava channel within a volcano):pan(S. Africa, obsolete)

• (smoking implement):briar

• → Bengali:পাইপ(paip)
• → Gulf Arabic:پيپ(pēp, bēb,“smoking pipe”),پايپ(pāyp, bāyb,“medium of transportation (sense 2.1)”)
• → Hindi:पाइप(pāip)
• → Japanese:パイプ(paipu)
• → Korean:파이프(paipeu)
• → Malay:paip
• → Maori:paipa
• → Russian:пайп(pajp)
• → Urak Lawoi':ปาเฮะ(pahëq)

pipe (third-person singular simple presentpipes,present participlepiping,simple past and past participlepiped)

1. (ambitransitive) Toplay (music) on a pipeinstrument, such as abagpipe or aflute.
   • 1605,R[ichard] V[erstegan], “Of the Antient Manner of Living of Ovr Saxon Ancestors. […]”, inA Restitution of Decayed Intelligence: In Antiquities. Concerning the Most Noble and Renovvmed^{[sic – meaningRenovvned]} English Nation. […], printed at Antwerp: By Robert Bruney;[…][a]nd to be sold […], by Iohn Norton and Iohn Bill,→OCLC; republished London: Printed by Iohn Bill, […],1628,→OCLC,page85:

     [T]hepide Piper with a ſhrill pipe wentpiping through the ſtreets, and forthwith the rats came all running out of the houſes in great numbers after him; all which hee led into the riuer ofWeaſer and therein drowned them.

   • 1789,William Blake, “Introduction”, inSongs of Innocence:

     Piping down the valleys wild /Piping songs of pleasant glee / On a cloud I saw a child. / And he laughing said to me /Pipe a song about a Lamb: / So Ipiped with merry chear. / Piperpipe that song again – / So Ipiped, he wept to hear.

2. (intransitive) Toshoutloudly and athighpitch.
   • 1922 October 26,Virginia Woolf, chapter II, inJacob’s Room, Richmond, London:[…]Leonard & Virginia Woolf at theHogarth Press,→OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press,1960,→OCLC,page17:

     "Ar—cher—Ja—cob!" Johnnypiped after her, pivoting round on his heel, and strewing the grass and leaves in his hands as if he were sowing seed.

3. (intransitive) Toemit or have ashrill sound like that of a pipe; towhistle.
   • 1827,William Wordsworth, “The Brothers”, inThe Poetical Works of William Wordsworth. In Five Volumes, volume I, London: Printed forLongman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, […],→OCLC,page125:

     [W]ith the mariners
     A fellow-mariner,—and so had fared
     Through twenty seasons; but he had been rear'd
     Among the mountains, and he in his heart
     Was half a Shepherd on the stormy seas.
     Oft in thepiping shrouds had Leonard heard
     The tones of waterfalls, and inland sounds
     Of caves and trees:[…]

4. (intransitive) Of aqueen bee: to make a high-pitched sound during certain stages of development.

   Coordinate terms:quack,toot

5. (intransitive,metallurgy) Of ametalingot: to becomehollow in theprocess ofsolidifying.
6. (transitive) Toconvey ortransport (something) by means of pipes.
7. (transitive) Toinstall orconfigure with pipes.
8. (transitive) Todabmoisture away from.
   • 1881–1882,Robert Louis Stevenson, “Narrative Resumed by Jim Hawkins: The Garrison in the Stockade”, inTreasure Island, London; Paris:Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883,→OCLC, part IV (The Stockade),pages153–154:

     Our chimney was a square hole in the roof; it was but a little part of the smoke that found its way out, and the rest eddied about the house, and kept us coughing andpiping the eye.

9. (transitive,figuratively) Tolead orconduct as if by pipes, especially bywiredtransmission.
   • 2009, Susan Van Allen, “Churches Dedicated to Female Saints—Rome”, in100 Places in Italy Every Woman should Go, Palo Alto, Calif.: Travelers’ Tales, Solas House,→ISBN, section I (The Divine: Goddesses, Saints, and the Blessed Virgin Mary),page20:

     Soft baroque musicpipes through the ornate, dripping-with-gold church sanctuary.

10. (transitive,computing, chieflyUnix) Todirectlyfeed (theoutput of oneprogram) asinput to another program, indicated by the pipecharacter (|) at thecommand line.
11. (transitive,cooking) Tocreate ordecorate withpiping (icing).

    topipe flowers on to a cupcake

    • 1998,Nicholas Lodge, Janice Murfitt,The International School of Sugarcraft: Book One: Beginners, London: Merehurst Press,→ISBN, page108:

      This means a quantity of runouts can be made in advance, allowing more time to flat ice andpipe the cake.

12. (transitive,nautical) Toorder orsignal by anotepattern on aboatswain's pipe.
    • 1888–1891,Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter XXIII.”, inBilly Budd and Other Stories, London:John Lehmann, published1951,→OCLC,page298:

      Pipe down the starboard watch, boatswain, and see that they go.

13. (transitive,slang, of a man) To havesex with awoman.
    • 2017 September 7, “Heatin Up”, in Lil Baby (lyrics),My Turn‎^[2],1:57:

      How you got everybody lit,pipin' up?
      Oh, she bad with no swag, I canpipe her up
      Made my last one my last one, I'm wifin' her

    • 2022 October 20, “Bitch”, Sliknik (lyrics),2:21:

      Now this bitch calling me Pacino, she thinks she fifer
      The only thing on my mind is trynapipe her

14. (transitive,slang,dated) Tosee.

    Synonyms:seeThesaurus:see

    • 1879 October, J[ohn] W[illiam] Horsley, “Autobiography of a Thief in Thieves’ Language”, inMacmillan’s Magazine, volume XL, number240, London:Macmillan and Co. […],→OCLC,page505, column 1:

      So I went and laid down on the grass. While laying there Ipiped a reeler whom I knew. He had a nark (a policeman's spy) with him. So I went and looked about for my two pals, and told them to look out for F. and his nark.

    • 1914, Jackson Gregory,Under Handicap:

      "Hey, Greek," Roger was saying, his droning voice coming unpleasantly into the other's musings, "did youpipe that? Did you ever see anything like her?"

15. (US,journalism,slang) Toinvent orembellish (a story).
    • 1981, Elie Abel,What's News: The Media in American Society, page259:

      […] who ostensibly was handed an all-day sucker by a warm-hearted bandit in the act of robbing a candy store of $40, there was no moral outcry. "Find the girl," was the immediate response of competing editors to their reporters at police headquarters. The men of the press, who knew apiped story when they saw one, quickly found another little girl, presented her with a lollipop, and photographed her skipping rope in front of the candy store.

    • 2004, Arthur Gelb,City Room, page154:

      If there was a lull in criminal activity, reporters were not above "piping" a story.

    • 2008, Homer L. Hall, Logan H. Aimone,High School Journalism, page91:

      Reporters today supposedly do not use "piped" stories because they are unethical.

16. (transitive) To hit with a pipe.
    • 1986 February 1, anonymous author, “"Fuck Dolls" Fight Back”, inGay Community News, volume13, number28, page 4:

      It goes without saying at every turn the cops and I were at it. It was said he may not be a great fighter but he'll stab orpipeanyone, cop or con.

•  pipe on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

FromEnglishpaper.

pipe

1. paper

• IPA^(key):/pip/

• Audio:

  (file)

From theOld French verbpiper(“to squeak, chirp”), fromLatinpipare(“to squeak”).

pipe f (pluralpipes)

1. tobacco pipe
2. (vulgar)blowjob

   Elle m’ataillé une pipe. ―She blew me.

FromEnglishpipe.

pipe m (pluralpipes)

1. thepipe symbol (| )

• “pipe”, inTrésor de la langue française informatisé[Digitized Treasury of the French Language],2012.

pipe f

1. plural ofpipa

• pepi

Inherited fromOld Englishpīpe, fromProto-West Germanic*pīpā; reinforced byVulgar Latin*pīpa; some senses are fromOld Frenchpipe.

• pype

• IPA^(key):/ˈpiːp(ə)/

pipe (pluralpipesorpipe)

1. A pipe; a piece oftubing used as achannel (often for fluids):
   1. A piece of tubing whichstring or rope isinserted into.
   2. (medicine) A syringe; a hollow tube for medical removal or insertion.
   3. Any other medical device or equipment based around a chamber or pipe.
   4. A pipe(musical instrument) or a similarwind instrument.
   5. (rare) A pipe as part of a musical instrument (e.g.bagpipes)
2. Abarrel ortub; acontainer orvessel for the storage of bulk goods, especially wine.
3. A unit measuring the mass or amount (equivalent to such a container).
4. A record of apayment oraudit acting as part of thePipe Rolls.
5. An anatomical or bodily channel or passage, especially one used for respiration.
6. (rare) A tube-shaped support or holder; something resembling a pipe but not used as one.

• bagpipe
• hornepipe
• pipen
• piper

• English:pipe (see there for further descendants)
• Scots:pipe
• Yola:peeps(plural)

• “pīpe,n.(1).”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007, retrieved2018-12-07.
• “pīpe,n.(2).”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007, retrieved2018-12-07.

FromOld Englishpīpian.

pipe

1. Alternative form ofpipen

(Thisetymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium.)

pipe f (pluralpipes)

1. (Jersey) 120gallons

FromOld Norsepípa, fromOld Saxon*pīpa, fromProto-West Germanic*pīpǭ.

pipe f orm (definite singularpipaorpipen,indefinite pluralpiper,definite pluralpipene)

1. achimney
2. (smoking) apipe
3. anorgan pipe

• sekkepipe

Ultimately fromProto-Germanic*pīpaną.

pipe (present tensepiper,past tenseperorpeip,past participlepepet,present participlepipende,imperativepip)

1. (intransitive) tochirp,squeek, to make a sound with ahighpitch

• “pipe” inThe Bokmål Dictionary.

FromOld Norsepípa, fromOld Saxon*pīpa, fromProto-West Germanic*pīpǭ.

pipe f (definite singularpipa,indefinite pluralpiper,definite pluralpipene)

1. apipe (e.g.organ pipe ortobacco pipe)
2. achimney

• glasblåsarpipe
• hasjpipe
• kritpipe
• orgelpipe
• pipetobakk
• sekkepipe
• tobakkspipe

Ultimately fromProto-Germanic*pīpaną.

• pipa(a infinitive)

pipe (present tensepip,past tensepeip,supinepipe,past participlepipen,present participlepipande,imperativepip)

1. (intransitive) tochirp,squeek, to make a sound with ahighpitch

• “pipe” inThe Nynorsk Dictionary.

FromProto-West Germanic*pīpǭ.

• IPA^(key):/ˈpiː.pe/

pīpe f

1. apipe(musical instrument)
2. pipe(for channeling liquid)

Weak feminine (n-stem):

• pīpere
• pīpian

• English:pipe

Unadapted borrowing fromEnglishpipe.

pipe m (uncountable)

1. (computing)pipe(the redirection of the output of a process directly into the input of another)

• IPA^(key):/ˈpipe/[ˈpi.pe]
• Rhymes:-ipe
• Syllabification:pi‧pe

pipe m (pluralpipes)

1. (Nicaragua)brother;bro

pipe

1. inflection ofpipar:
   1. first/third-personsingularpresentsubjunctive
   2. third-personsingularimperative

• “pipe”, inDiccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8,Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish:Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10