a person who plays a pipe or bagpipes - pay the piper and call the tune ⇒
to bear the cost of an undertaking and control it
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
pip•er
(pī′pər),USA pronunciation n.
- Music and Dancea person who plays on a pipe.
- Music and Dancea bagpiper.
- Idioms pay the piper:
- to pay the cost of something.
- to bear the unfavorable consequences of one's actions or pleasures:Someday he'll have to pay the piper for all that gambling.
- bef. 1000; Middle English; Old English pīpere. See pipe1, -er1
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
John. 1903–92, British artist. An official war artist in World War II, he is known esp for his watercolours of bombed churches and his stained glass in Coventry Cathedral
'piper' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Bartramian sandpiper
- Cullen
- Hameln
- Pied Piper
- Pink Floyd
- betel
- black pepper
- carol
- cubeb
- diethylcarbamazine
- kava
- least sandpiper
- minoxidil
- paprika
- pectoral sandpiper
- peep
- pepper
- pepper family
- peppercorn
- pibroch
- pimpernel
- pipe
- piperaceous
- piperazine
- piperidine
- piperine
- piperonal
- piperonyl butoxide
- purple sandpiper
- sandpiper
- semipalmated sandpiper
- solitary sandpiper
- spotted sandpiper
- tongue twister
- tweedle
- upland sandpiper
- white pepper