pipe

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pipe/pʌɪp/

▶noun

• 1 a tube used to convey water, gas, oil, or other fluids.

  ■ a cavity in cast metal.

• 2 a device used for smoking tobacco, consisting of a narrow tube with a bowl at one end in which the tobacco is burned, the smoke from which is then drawn into the mouth.

• 3 a wind instrument consisting of a single tube with holes along its length that are covered by the fingers to produce different notes.

  ■ (pipes) bagpipes.

  ■ (pipes) a set of musical pipes joined together, as in pan pipes.

  ■ any of the cylindrical tubes by which notes are produced in an organ.

  ■ a boatswain's whistle.

• 4 a high-pitched cry or song, especially of a bird.

• 5 a cylindrical vein of ore or rock, especially one in which diamonds are found.

• 6 Computing a command which causes the output from one routine to be the input for another. [short for pipeline.]

• 7 a large cask for wine, especially as a measure equal to two hogsheads.

▶verb

• 1 convey through a pipe or pipes.

• 2 transmit (music, a programme, a signal, etc.) by wire or cable.

• 3 play (a tune) on a pipe.

  ■ signal the arrival or departure of (someone) by playing a pipe or pipes: the Duke was piped on board.

  ■ use a boatswain's pipe to summon (the crew) to work or a meal.

• 4 sing or say in a high, shrill voice.

• 5 decorate with piping.

• 6 propagate (a pink or similar plant) by taking a cutting at the joint of a stem.

– phrases
put that in your pipe and smoke it informal said to stress that someone will have to accept a particular fact, even if it is unwelcome.

– phrasal verbs
pipe someone away (or down) Nautical dismiss someone from duty.
pipe something away Nautical give a signal for a boat to start.
pipe down informal stop talking; be less noisy.
pipe up say something suddenly.

– derivatives
pipeful noun (pl. pipefuls),
pipeless adjective,
pipy adjective.

– origin OE pīpe ‘musical tube’, pīpian ‘play a pipe’, of Gmc origin, based on L. pipare ‘to peep, chirp’.