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to pig

to pig

9.9
To clean a pipe by sending a device through it
  • verb
  • /pɪg/
  • Specialized
translation icon : limpiar la tubería
  • Regular pigging helps prevent blockages and extends the life of oil and gas pipelines.

Examples

  • The workers will pig the pipeline tomorrow.

  • The engineers are pigging the pipeline to remove built-up debris and ensure smooth operation.

  • After pigging the system, the maintenance team reported a significant improvement in flow efficiency.

  • He is pigging the sewer system as we speak.

  • The engineers are pigging the pipeline to remove built-up debris and ensure smooth operation.

  • Regular pigging helps prevent blockages and extends the life of oil and gas pipelines.

  • After pigging the system, the maintenance team reported a significant improvement in flow efficiency.

Idioms

to eat like a pig
  • Offensive
5 7.8

To eat in a very messy and greedy way

to be a pig
  • Offensive
4 8.8

To take more than your fair share of food or things

to act like a pig
  • Offensive
1 8.0

To behave in a greedy and messy way, often when eating with others

1 7.6

To eat or drink too much

1 8.4

To make small changes to something bad so it looks better without fixing the real problem

1 9.9

To buy something without checking it first and risk being cheated

1 8.2

Feeling very happy and content

in pig
  • UK
9.9

A female pig that is pregnant and carrying piglets

9.3

To argue with someone who will not listen and waste your time

Phrasal Verbs

to pig out
  • Informal
7 7.5

Eat a very large amount of food without control

to pig it
  • Offensive
9.9

To live in a very dirty and untidy way in your home without caring about cleaning

Compounds

guinea pig
  • Informal
44 3.5

A person who takes part in an experiment so others can see the results

15 2.3

A small, furry animal with short legs and almost no tail often kept as a pet

6 1.4

A place where people keep and raise pigs for meat

6 2.1

A small sausage wrapped in dough and baked as a snack

3 6.6

A very young pig that still drinks its mother's milk, often cooked whole for roasting

pig iron
  • Specialized
1 4.9

People pour hot iron from a furnace into bars to be made into steel later

1 8.2

A young pig that still drinks its mother's milk

long pig
  • Offensive
1 9.9

Human flesh that some people eat as food

bush pig
  • South African
8.0

A wild pig from Africa with rough hair that lives in many habitats

cinder pig
  • Jargon
9.9

Iron that has a lot of waste material and is poor for making steel

9.9

To eat the body of another person as food

mine pig
  • Archaic
9.7

Pure iron made directly from iron ore without recycled metal

pig bed
  • Specialized
9.9

A sand bed that shapes hot liquid iron into bars

pig face
  • Informal
9.3

A silly face that looks like a pig to make people laugh

pig laurel
  • Specialized
9.9

A small bush with narrow leaves and red flowers that is poisonous to young farm animals

pig lead
  • Specialized
9.3

Blocks of lead made for storage or moving

pig pile
  • Informal
6.7

A playful heap of people on top of each other

pig-sticking
  • Archaic
9.9

An activity of hunting wild pigs using long spears

pig-sick
  • Informal
9.8

Very ill or very fed up with something

3.9

About the size of a pig

sea pig
  • Specialized
9.9

A deep-sea animal that looks like a fat sea cucumber and crawls on the ocean floor

Surface Forms

pig infinitive
pigged past
pigged past participle
piging present participle
pigs third person singular

Etymology

Pig for pipeline work comes from a cleaning tool called a pig that is sent through a pipe to clear it, and one story says the first tools either squealed like pigs or moved through the pipe like a pig in a narrow tunnel, which is why engineers call the action 'pigging'.