piper
nounUK /ˈpaɪ.pə/ · US /ˈpaɪ.pɚ/
Etymology From Middle English piper, pipere; equivalent to pipe + -er. Piecewise doublet of fifer.
8 senses
1
A musician who plays a pipe.
2
A bagpiper.
- At Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley, the sounding of train horns was followed by a lone piper playing When the Battle's Over.2020 May 20, “Railway remembers VE Day with a series of tributes”, in Rail, page 15:
3
A baby pigeon.
4
A common European gurnard (Trigla lyra), having a large head, with prominent nasal projection, and with large, sharp, opercular spines.
5
A sea urchin (Cidaris cidaris) with very long spines, native to the American and European coasts.
6
A halfbeak (Hyporhamphus ihi) found in New Zealand.
8
Slang A person who smokes crack cocaine.
- 2025, Rev. Yolanda E. Johnson, Dr. Viola J. Malone, Journey: Pain and Purpose On one occasion after returning from vacation one of the 'pipers' (crack addicts) as they were called, was in my kitchen cooking. That was the last straw.
- Derived terms
- drunk as a piper, hornpiper, pay the piper, Pied Piper, piper gurnard, piperly, sandpiper, uilleann piper, who pays the piper calls the tune