# piping hot

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/piping-hot
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

Very hot.

## Examples

- The soup is piping hot, so be careful.
- You should drink your coffee while it is piping hot.
- Be careful because the bath water is piping hot.
- The waiter brought the pizza to our table while it was still piping hot.
- I had to wait a few minutes before eating because the apple pie was still piping hot from the oven.
- The baker places the piping hot loaves of bread on the cooling rack every morning at dawn.
- The mechanic warned me not to touch the engine parts because they were still piping hot after the long drive across the desert.
- She served the tea piping hot, its steam rising into the cold morning air as they sat down to discuss the day.

## Origin

From Middle English. First attested circa second half of 14th century, from the similarity between the sizzling sound of food cooking in a frying pan and that of musical pipes, from Canterbury Tales http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2383 by Geoffrey Chaucer: :: "He singeth brokking¹ as a nightingale. / He sent her piment, mead, and spiced ale, / And wafers² piping hot out of the glede³: / And, for she was of town, he proffer'd meed." :: ¹ quavering, ² cakes, ³ coals

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.