- Home
- Idioms
- pipe
pipe
between the pipes
In ice hockey, field hockey, or lacrosse, playing the position of goalkeeper. The word "pipes" refers to the pipe-like bars that make up the frame of the goal. It should be a great game—I hear the new goalie is a demon between the pipes. Remember, when you're between the pipes, you are the last line of defense!
lay the pipe
vulgar slang To have sexual intercourse (with someone, usually a woman). (Typically said of or by a man.) Teenage boys often have an obsessive preoccupation with laying the pipe as soon as possible, which is reinforced by peer pressure from their male friends or schoolmates.
smoke the peace pipe (with someone)
To reach an agreement or understanding (with someone); to resolve a dispute or stop fighting (with someone). Alludes to the calumet used by certain Native American tribes for ceremonial purposes, such as a covenant or peace treaty. In a surprise turn of events, it seems that the environmentalist group is looking to smoke the peace pipe with the largest lobbying body of the oil industry. I don't understand why there has been so much tension between you. You need to both sit down like rational adults, smoke the peace pipe together, and get on with your lives.
pipe dream
A dream or idea that is impossible to accomplish. Many say that achieving world peace is a pipe dream because human beings are so flawed in their logic and emotions.
be in the pipeline
To be in progress. Don't worry, your raise is in the pipeline for next quarter. I hear some big changes are in the pipeline.
lead-pipe cinch
Fig. something very easy to do; something entirely certain to happen. I knew it was a lead-pie cinch that I would be selected to head the publication committee.
pipe down
to become quiet; to cease making noise; to shut up. (Especially as a rude command.) Pipe down! I'm trying to sleep. Come on! Pipe down and get back to work!
pipe dream
Fig. a wish or an idea that is impossible to achieve or carry out. (From the dreams or visions induced by the smoking of an opium pipe.) Going to the West Indies is a pipe dream. We'll never have enough money. Your hopes of winning a lot of money are just a silly pipe dream.
pipe something away
to conduct a liquid or a gas away through a pipe. We will have to pipe the excess water away. They piped away the water.
pipe something (from some place) (to some place)
to conduct a liquid or a gas from one place to another place through a pipe. One oil company wanted to pipe oil all the way from northern Alaska to a southern port on the Pacific. The company pipes gas from the storage tanks in the middle of the state.
pipe something into some place
and pipe something in 1. Lit. to conduct a liquid or a gas into some place through a pipe. An excellent delivery system piped oxygen into every hospital room. They piped in oxygen to every room. They piped it in.
2. Fig. to bring music or other sound into a place over wires. They piped music into the stairways and elevators. The elevators were nice except that the management had piped in music.
pipe up (with something)
Fig. to interject a comment; to interrupt with a comment. Nick piped up with an interesting thought. You can always count on Alice to pipe up.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Fig. Inf. See how you like that!; It is final, and you have to live with it. Well, I'm not going to do what you want, so put that in your pipe and smoke it! I'm sick of you, and I'm leaving. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
set of pipes
Fig. a very loud voice; a good singing voice. She has a nice set of pipes. With a set of pipes like that, she's a winner.
pipe up
to speak unexpectedly a€?I want to be the first female president!a€? piped up one of the little girls.
a pipe dream
an idea that could never happen because it is impossible The classless society is just a pipe dream.
Put/stick that in your pipe and smoke it!
(informal) an impolite way of telling someone that they must accept what you have just said even if they do not like it Well, I'm going anyway, so put that in your pipe and smoke it!
be in the pipeline
if a plan is in the pipeline, it is being developed and will happen in the future We have several major property deals in the pipeline.
lead-pipe cinch
A certainty, an assured success. For example, "An engagement ain't always a lead-pipe cinch" (O. Henry, The Sphinx Apple, 1907). This colloquial expression is of disputed origin. It may allude to the cinch that tightly holds a horse's saddle in place, which can make it easier for the rider to succeed in a race; or it may allude to a cinch in plumbing, in which a lead pipe is fastened with a band of steel to another pipe or a fixture, making a very secure joint. [Late 1800s]
pipe down
Stop talking, be quiet, as in I wish you children would pipe down. This idiom is also used as an imperative, as in Pipe down! We want to listen to the opera. It comes from the navy, where the signal for all hands to turn in was sometimes sounded on a whistle or pipe. By 1900 it had been transferred to more general use.
pipe dream
A fantastic notion or vain hope, as in I'd love to have one home in the mountains and another at the seashore, but that's just a pipe dream . Alluding to the fantasies induced by smoking an opium pipe, this term has been used more loosely since the late 1800s.
pipe up
Speak up, as in Finally she piped up, "I think I've got the winning ticket," or Pipe up if you want more pancakes. This term originally referred to a high, piping tone. [Mid-1800s]
put that in your pipe and smoke it
Take that information and give it some thought, as in I'm quitting at the end of the week-put that in your pipe and smoke it. This term alludes to the thoughtful appearance of many pipe smokers. [Colloquial; early 1800s]
pipe down
v. Slang To stop talking; become quiet: Pipe down—I'm trying to sleep!
pipe up
v. To join a conversation with an opinion, especially unexpectedly: You should have piped up if you didn't agree with us.
hash pipe
n. a small pipe for smoking cannabis. (Drugs.) John kept a hash pipe on the shelf just for show.
pipe
n. an easy course in school. I don’t want a full load of pipes. I want to learn something.
pipe down
in. to become quiet; to cease making noise; to shut up. (Especially as a rude command.) Pipe down! I’m trying to sleep.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
exclam. Take that!; See how you like that! You are the one who made the error, and we all know it. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
set of pipes
n. a very loud voice; a singing voice. With a set of pipes like that, she’s a winner.
take the pipe
1. and take the gas pipe tv. to commit suicide. (Originally by inhaling gas.) The kid was dropping everything in sight and finally took the pipe.
2. tv. to fail to perform under pressure; to cave in. (From sense 1) Don’t take the pipe, man. Stick in there!
take the gas pipe
verb
Common Names:
Name | Gender | Pronounced | Usage |
Teresia | | te-RE-see-ah | Swedish |
CillÍN | | - | Irish |
EguzkiÑE | | - | Basque |
Ashok | | - | Indian, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Nepali |
Ulrike | | uwl-REE-kə | German |
Hajna | | HAWY-naw | Hungarian |