pipe
pipe — noun
1. a hard hollow line used to move water, gas, oil, or waste through a building or
a hard hollow line used to move water, gas, oil, or waste through a building or another system
Water from the sink ran through a cracked pipe under the floor.
water runs through a pipe
A worker checked the gas pipe behind the restaurant wall.
collocation: gas pipe
In winter, the kitchen pipe froze and burst overnight.
common event: a pipe bursts
Brown water leaked from a pipe near the school gate.
The farm uses plastic pipes to carry water to each field.
carry water through pipes
- water pipe
- gas pipe
- drain pipe
- plastic pipe
- burst pipe
Grammar Patterns
water flows through a pipe
a pipe carries gas to + place
a pipe bursts
Usage Note
Often used for systems that move water, gas, oil, or waste. Common verbs are flow through, run through, leak from, and burst.
Common Mistakes
2. a tool for smoking tobacco, with a cup-shaped part that holds it and a stem you
a tool for smoking tobacco, with a cup-shaped part that holds it and a stem you place between your lips
Grandpa cleaned his pipe beside the window after dinner.
clean or smoke a pipe
The old sailor kept tobacco in a tin for his pipe.
fill a pipe with tobacco
A carved wooden pipe lay on the shelf above the fire.
At the museum, visitors saw a clay pipe from 1890.
- smoke a pipe
- light a pipe
- wooden pipe
- clay pipe
- smoking pipe
a fuller phrase that makes the meaning completely clear
- briar
a more specific word for one kind of pipe made from briar wood
Grammar Patterns
smoke a pipe
fill a pipe with tobacco
light a pipe
Usage Note
This sense names the object used for smoking tobacco, not a long hollow tube in general. Commonly appears with smoke, light, clean, and fill.
Common Mistakes
3. a simple wind instrument that makes music when you blow into it
a simple wind instrument that makes music when you blow into it
The shepherd played a pipe while the sheep crossed the hill.
play a pipe
A child blew a small pipe in the school play.
blow a pipe
Soft music came from a bamboo pipe near the river.
At the market, an old man sold bamboo pipes for village songs.
market stall selling simple flutes
- play a pipe
- bamboo pipe
- wooden pipe
Grammar Patterns
play a pipe
blow into a pipe
Usage Note
A literary or traditional music sense. Distinguish it from noun 4, which refers specifically to bagpipes, and noun 5, which names a single sound tube inside an organ.
4. a wind instrument with a bag that pushes air through several tubes, often linked
a wind instrument with a bag that pushes air through several tubes, often linked with Scotland
The player tuned his pipe before the parade in Edinburgh.
Scottish bagpipe sense
A pipe sounded across the square as the parade reached the castle.
bagpipe heard in a parade
The museum displayed a pipe beside photos of Highland bands.
Scottish music context
The piper lifted his pipe and led the guests into church.
pipe with piper at a wedding
- play the pipe
- tune a pipe
- Scottish pipe
Grammar Patterns
play the pipe
tune a pipe
Usage Note
This sense is uncommon and usually appears in traditional or Scottish contexts. Distinguish it from noun 3, a simple wind instrument, and from the plural expression pipes meaning bagpipes more generally.
5. one of the hollow parts in an organ that air passes through to make a note
one of the hollow parts in an organ that air passes through to make a note
Dust covered several organ pipes above the church door.
collocation: organ pipe
One pipe gave a weak note during Sunday practice.
a pipe gives a note
The repairer replaced a bent pipe inside the church organ.
organ repair context
From below, Eva counted the silver pipes over the stage.
- organ pipe
- silver pipe
- wooden pipe
- organ pipe
the full phrase used in everyday explanation
- tube
possible in technical description, but less natural for this instrument part
Grammar Patterns
an organ pipe sounds
replace a pipe
Usage Note
Used for the separate tubes inside a pipe organ. The subject is often an organ, a church, or a repair worker rather than a person playing a tune directly.
6. the straight vertical sign | used on a keyboard or screen
the straight vertical sign | used on a keyboard or screen
Press Shift and the pipe key to type that symbol.
type the | symbol
The password needs one pipe between the two numbers.
put a pipe between items
Ben used a pipe to separate the command options.
On this keyboard, the pipe is above the Enter key.
- pipe symbol
- pipe key
- vertical pipe
- vertical bar
the more formal technical name
- bar
shorter, but less exact because bar can mean many different marks
Grammar Patterns
type a pipe
put a pipe between + items
Usage Note
Common in computing and typing. Distinguish it from slash and backslash, which lean diagonally instead of standing straight up and down.
Common Mistakes
7. either of the side posts of an ice hockey goal
either of the side posts of an ice hockey goal
The puck struck the pipe and bounced back out.
hit the pipe in hockey
Fans groaned when Liam hit the pipe in overtime.
The goalie heard the pipe ring behind his glove.
A hard shot flew off the left pipe.
- hit the pipe
- left pipe
- right pipe
Grammar Patterns
hit the pipe
the puck strikes the pipe
Usage Note
Used in ice hockey only. Distinguish it from a soccer or hockey goalpost in general speech, because this sense refers specifically to the side posts of the net.
pipe — verb
1. to say or sing something in a very high, thin voice
to say or sing something in a very high, thin voice
"Stop!" Ella piped from the back of the bus.
pipe + quoted words
The smallest singer piped a solo at the end.
pipe + song or note
From upstairs, Max piped that dinner was ready.
pipe + that-clause
"Happy birthday!" the children piped around the cake.
- pipe a greeting
- pipe a tune
- pipe that...
Grammar Patterns
pipe + quoted words
pipe + that-clause
pipe a song
Usage Note
Object is usually a short message, a greeting, or a song. The verb suggests a voice that is high and often childlike.
Common Mistakes
2. to send water, gas, or another substance somewhere by moving it through a system
to send water, gas, or another substance somewhere by moving it through a system of pipes
Fresh water is piped into the village from the hills.
passive: be piped into + place
The factory pipes steam under the street to nearby buildings.
pipe + substance + to + place
Gas was piped across the field to the new house.
At night, milk is piped straight into the cooling tank.
The city piped clean water to every home last year.
- pipe water into a village
- pipe gas to homes
- pipe steam underground
- be piped from the hills
Grammar Patterns
pipe water into + place
pipe gas to + place
be piped from + place
Usage Note
Often used in the passive because the flow or destination matters more than the agent. The object is usually a liquid or gas rather than a solid everyday object.
Common Mistakes
3. to press soft food such as cream or icing through a bag so that it forms lines,
to press soft food such as cream or icing through a bag so that it forms lines, shapes, or letters on top of something
Nora piped pink cream around the edge of the cake.
pipe cream around the edge
The baker piped stars onto each birthday cupcake.
pipe shapes onto cakes
After cooling the cookies, Sam piped white icing over them.
In class, the students piped cream roses on sponge cakes.
Mia piped chocolate letters across the top of the pie.
pipe letters on + dessert
- pipe icing
- pipe cream
- pipe stars
- pipe letters
Grammar Patterns
pipe cream onto + cake
pipe icing around + edge
pipe letters on + dessert
Usage Note
Object is usually icing, cream, chocolate, or another soft mixture. Distinguish it from verb 2, which sends substances through real pipes as part of a transport system.
Common Mistakes
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
For noun sense 1, pipe usually suggests a hard hollow part in a fixed system that carries water, gas, or waste. Tube is broader: it can mean a softer container, a body part, or any hollow shape, so it does not always suggest building work or plumbing. Hose is usually flexible and often moved by hand, as in a garden hose or fire hose. Pipeline often means a larger transport line or network, especially for oil or gas over a long distance. So you fix a broken pipe under the sink, water plants with a hose, and discuss a new pipeline across the desert.
Etymology
Pipe came into English from Latin through early French forms meaning a tube or flute. Because the basic idea was a narrow hollow shape that air or liquid could move through, English later used the word for smoking tools, musical instruments, organ tubes, and systems that carry water or gas.