pipe dream
A desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work; a near impossibility.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Buying a private island is just a pipe dream for me.”
“Retiring at thirty is a pipe dream for most workers.”
“He wants to become a famous actor, but his parents think it is just a pipe dream.”
“The small company hoped to beat the global tech giant, but their staff knew it was a pipe dream without more funding.”
“She realized that fixing the old, rusted car in one weekend was a pipe dream because many parts were missing.”
“The young inventor spent years chasing what many critics dismissed as a mere pipe dream, yet his persistence eventually led to a breakthrough.”
From pipe + dream, referring to the fantasies experienced while smoking an opium pipe. The term is first recorded in this sense in the late 19th century, drawing a connection between the inhalation of the drug and the subsequent production of improbable plans. It is formed identically to the Old English pīpdrēam, though that earlier compound denoted the music or sound of a pipe rather than a narcotic hallucination.
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American Dream
The ideal stressing egalitarianism and that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve material prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.
- 02
in your dreams
Used to express the speaker's skepticism about another's preceding statement about a desired or assumed state of affairs.
- 03
live the dream
To experience the achievement of every success that one has aspired to achieve, especially from a career.
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pipe down
To be quiet; to refrain from being noisy.
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pipe in
To interrupt a conversation with a comment.
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pipe the eye
To weep.
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put that in your pipe and smoke it
Used after stating something surprising or undesired, in order to emphasize its truth.
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set of pipes
Voice for singing.
Last updated August 10, 2026