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Glite Dictionary
to pipe down

to pipe down

35 7.1
To become quiet or tell someone to stop making noise
  • phrasal verb
  • /paɪp daʊn/
  • Informal
translation icon : callarse
  • But remember, when she tells you to pipe down, then you really have to pipe down.
  • please pipe down
  • pipe down now
  • just pipe down

I've got a lovely feeling until it's like intense and it's like our baby look, just just just pipe down, just chill, just chill out.

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Examples

  • Both of you need to pipe down.

    The Negotiator (1998)

  • Could you please pipe down? I'm trying to concentrate on my homework.

  • - You two, pipe down.

    A Home of Our Own (1993)

  • My father told me to pipe down and read louder.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • For God's sake, Danny, pipe down.

    The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

  • Kuroda needs to pipe down.

    Blog text (21)

  • Please, let's pipe down with all of the negative, hate-filled rhetoric and let's try to move forward together.

    Blog text (11)

  • For once in your life, Brogan Kai, pipe down.

    The Last Sin Eater (2007)

  • You kids pipe down!

    Poison Ivy (1992)

  • Okay, okay, pipe down.

    Blog text (21)

Synonyms

to shut up
vsto pipe down
  • Offensive
∞ 4.1

Tell someone to be quiet in a rude or angry way

can be softer and sometimes simply request temporary silence
to be quiet
vsto pipe down
231 1.0

To stop making noise or talking

also includes choosing to stop speaking without being told
to silence
vsto pipe down
169 3.5

To stop someone from speaking or making noise

is usually less formal and used in everyday speech
to quiet
vsto pipe down
68 3.2

To make someone or something calm and less noisy

is more often a brief spoken command to stop talking
to quiet down
vsto pipe down
  • Informal
42 2.0

Make people or things less noisy and less active

is used more as a direct order to stop speaking
to hush
vsto pipe down
33 3.4

Make a person or thing quiet so others stop making noise

is more likely to be used as a blunt spoken order
to shush
vsto pipe down
  • Informal
31 5.5

Tell someone to be quiet by making a soft 'shh' sound

is broader, also meaning to tell someone sharply to stop talking
to put a sock in it
vsto pipe down
  • UK
9 9.1

Tell someone to be quiet

is more neutral and not necessarily humorous or idiomatic
to shut one's mouth
vsto pipe down
  • Informal
4 4.4

To stop talking to keep a secret or when told to be quiet

is commonly a short order used to end speaking immediately
to quieten
vsto pipe down
3 4.6

Make someone or something less noisy and calmer

is commonly a short imperative aimed at stopping speech
to hush up
vsto pipe down
  • Informal
2 5.0

Make someone stop talking and be quiet

is simpler and used to tell someone to be silent quickly
to shh
vsto pipe down
  • Informal
8.3

Tell someone to be quiet by making a soft sound with your mouth

can be a fuller spoken command rather than just a sound
to whush
vsto pipe down
  • UK
9.9

To tell someone quietly to stop talking

is often a direct verbal order beyond a simple gesture
to wheesht
vsto pipe down
  • UK
9.9

To tell someone to be quiet in a soft voice

is a more general phrase used across many informal varieties
to keep (someone's) voice down
vsto pipe down
  • Informal
3.4

Speak quietly so you do not disturb others

is focused more on stopping talk entirely rather than lowering volume
to shut one's gob
vsto pipe down
  • UK
9.9

To tell someone rudely to be quiet

is less blunt and can be used more playfully or mildly
to belt up
vsto pipe down
  • Offensive
9.2

To tell someone to stop talking and be quiet

is similar but often less aggressive in everyday use
to shut one's assmouth
vsto pipe down
  • Offensive
9.9

Tells someone to be quiet in a rude way

is a milder version used without vulgar language

Antonyms

to speak up
43 2.0

Talk more loudly so people can hear you

How Quiet

to shut up
  • Offensive
∞ 4.1
to silence
169 3.5
to pipe down
  • Informal
35 7.1
to hush
33 3.4
to quiet down
  • Informal
42 2.0

Surface Forms

pipe down infinitive
piping down present participle
pipes down third person singular
piped down past
piped down past participle

Morphology

pipe + down

The sense 'be quiet / lower your volume' is partially derivable because 'pipe' can mean to make a (high) sound and 'down' implies reducing or lowering, so together they suggest lowering sound. However, 'pipe' as a verb for making noise is not a frequent meaning for learners and the imperative idiom 'pipe down' is conventionalized, so the relation is only partly predictable to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Pipe down may come from old sailors. One popular story says officers blew a small pipe, a kind of whistle, to order people to lower their voices, and down showed that the noise should get lower, so the command came to mean 'be quiet'.