English

Etymology

Pronunciation

• /paɪp/
• Rhymes: -aɪp

Noun

1. A hollow tube that transports water, steam, or other liquid; usually made of metal, ceramic, wood, or plastic.
2. In the context of "smoking": A hollow stem with bowl at one end used for smoking (see also water pipe or bong)
3. A vertical conduit through the Earth's crust below a volcano, through which magma has passed; often filled with volcanic breccia
4. A type of pasta, similar to macaroni
5. Decorative edging stitched to the hems or seams of an object made of fabric (clothing, hats, pillows, curtains, etc.); often a contrasting color
6. A hollow tube used to produce sound, such as an organ pipe.
7. A wind instrument making a whistling sound. (see pan pipes, bagpipe, boatswain's pipe)
8. One of the goalposts of the goal.
9. The ASCII character at position 124 (decimal), 7C (hex), 01111100 (binary): " | "
10. In Unix, the pipe character signifies that the output of one program feeds directly as input to another program.
11. In the context of "computing|slang": A data backbone, or broadband Internet access (e.g., a "fat pipe" refers to a high-bandwidth connection).
12. An English measure of capacity for liquids, containing 126 wine gallons; half a ton.
    • 1882: 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, a pipe 126 gallons, a tercian or puncheon 84 gallons, a hogshead 63 gallons, a tierce 41 gallons, a barrel 31.5 gallons, a rundlet 18.5 gallons. — James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, p. 205.
13. In the context of "AU|colloquial|obsolete": An anonymous satire or essay, insulting and frequently libelous, written on a piece of paper and left somewhere public where it could be found and thus spread, to embarrass the author's enemies.

    1818: yet, it is much to be hoped, that from his example pipe-making will in future be reposed solely in the hands of Mr. William Cluer of the Brickfield Hill. — Sydney Gazette, 26 September 1818, on William Bland convicted of libelling Governor Macquarie in a pipe (William Cluer was an earthenware pipe manufacturer). Quoted in More Pig Bites Baby! Stories from Australia's First Newspaper, volume 2, ed. Micahel Connor, Duffy and Snellgrove, 2004, ISBN 1-876631-91-0.

Derived terms

• anonymous pipe
• named pipe

Translations