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pipe

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Meanings about a wind instrument.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

pyp
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈpaɪp

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Meanings relating to a wind instrument.

  2. music

    A wind instrument consisting of a tube, often lined with holes to allow for adjustment in pitch, sounded by blowing into the tube.

  3. A tubular wind instrument

  4. A high-pitched sound, especially of a bird.

  5. music

    A tube used to produce sound in an organ; an organ pipe.

  6. The key or sound of the voice.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To emit or have a shrill sound like that of a pipe; to whistle.

  2. intransitive

    To shout loudly and at high pitch.

  3. intransitive

    Of a queen bee: to make a high-pitched sound during certain stages of development.

  4. Trim with piping

  5. transitive

    To dab moisture away from.

  6. Transport by pipeline

    “Pipe oil, water, and gas into the desert.”

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Meanings relating to a wind instrument.

Used this way, pipe is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • tube , more casual, better suited to speech than writing
  • tobacco pipe , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use pipe

  • “Pipe oil, water, and gas into the desert.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

water pipeexhaust pipeclay pipeheat pipepipe organsteam pipepipe lineiron pipe

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • pipernounInflected form

    Someone who plays the bagpipe.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • pipe fittingnounCompound term

    Fitting consisting of threaded pieces of pipe for joining pipes together.

  • pipe inverbCompound term

    Transport to a destination through pipes.

  • pipe majornounCompound term

    The chief piper in a band of bagpipes.

  • pipe of peacenounCompound term

    A highly decorated ceremonial pipe of Amerindians.

  • pipe organnounCompound term

    Wind instrument whose sound is produced by means of pipes arranged in sets supplied with air from a bellows and controlled from a large complex musical keyboard.

  • pipe racknounCompound term

    A rack for holding a smoker's pipes.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to emit

shriek

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.