piper Hear it!

piper Definition

piper (pər)

noun

a person who plays on a pipe; esp., a bagpiper

Etymology: ME pipere < OE

piper Idioms

pay the piper

to pay for one's pleasures or bear the consequences of one's actions

piper Synonyms

piper

n.

flute player, flautist, fifer, tooter*; see musician.

pay the piper

take the consequences, suffer the consequences, be responsible, settle for; see pay 1.

piper Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • pay: He who pays the piper should call the tune!
  • follow: Will the children ever return from following the piper 's tune?
  • include: Irish and Scottish musicians also feature in Mayhew's report, including a blind Irish piper, and the English and German street bands.
  • have: You don't have to be Scottish to have a piper playing on the most important day of your life.

Converse of subject

  • lead: A party had arrived that morn ( led by these three Pipers ) To dedicate a Tablet in - Cathedral of " Wipers " .
  • accompany: The cortege would be led through the town accompanied by pipers, horn and flute players and flashlight bearers.

Adjective modifier

  • pied: He may want to change his user name to the pied piper from now on.
  • Northumbrian: A Northumbrian piper was at Morpeth station last week ( Monday 12 December 2005 ) to greet a new service from Virgin Trains.
  • lone: The last key performance was the lone piper playing the haunting Lest We Forget.
  • Scots: Among Scots pipers, Neil Dickie takes the view that his tunes should be played exactly as he wrote them.
  • Scottish: The sound of a Scottish piper playing a lament filled the air.
  • Irish: Irish and Scottish musicians also feature in Mayhew's report, including a blind Irish piper, and the English and German street bands.

Modifies a noun

  • today: He is responsible for some beautiful tunes which are commonly played by pipers today.

Noun used with modifier

  • uilleann: Most uilleann pipers in Scotland are spread around the country.
  • highland: Or employ professional Irish or salsa dancers, a magician, a highland piper or a comedian.
  • eleven: Eleven pipers piping and twelve drummers drumming is a simple case of the band getting too big.
  • solo: Unique in the UK, Thistle Piping can provide anything from solo pipers to full pipe bands.
  • town: But the town pipers supplemented their basic town piping income by giving recitals and playing at dances and weddings.
  • bag: So when did the term piper begin to mean Bag piper?

Possessives

  • son: A big occasion was a concert in the Anstice Hall when I recited ' Tom, Tom the piper's son ' .
piper Quotes

There's Carol like a rolling car, And Martin like a flying bird, And Adam like the Lord's First Word, And Raymond like the Harvest Moon, And Peter like a piper's tune, And Alan like the flowing on Of water. And there's John, like John.

—Farjeon, Eleanor

AsTammie glowr'd, amaz'd, and curious, The mirth and fun grew fast and furious: The piper loud and louder blew; The dancers quick and quicker flew.

—Burns, Robert

And wasna he a roguey, A roguey, a roguey, And wasna he a roguey, The piper o' Dundee?

—Anonymous

Browse dictionary entries near piper

  1. pipeline
  2. pipeful
  3. pipefish
  4. pipe wrench
  5. pipe up
  6. pipe organ
  7. pipe of peace
  8. pipe fitting
  9. pipe fitter
  10. pipe dream
  1. piperazine
  2. piperidine
  3. piperine
  4. piperonal
  5. PIPES
  6. pipestem
  7. pipestone
  8. pipette
  9. piping
  10. pipistrelle