pipe down
To be quiet; to refrain from being noisy.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Please pipe down while I am on this call.”
“The teacher asked the students to pipe down so the class could begin the exam.”
“After the crowd refused to pipe down, the speaker waited patiently for the room to return to a state of order.”
From the verb pipe, the expression relates to the phrase lay the pipe.
- 01
pipe dream
A desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work; a near impossibility.
- 02
pipe in
To interrupt a conversation with a comment.
- 03
pipe the eye
To weep.
- 04
put that in your pipe and smoke it
Used after stating something surprising or undesired, in order to emphasize its truth.
- 05
set of pipes
Voice for singing.
Last updated August 10, 2026