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clay pipe

clay pipe

1 4.4
A small pipe for smoking tobacco made from baked clay
  • noun
  • /kleɪ paɪp/
translation icon : pipa de arcilla
  • He enjoys relaxing on the porch while smoking his clay pipe.
  • smoking a clay pipe

Examples

  • Chingachgook watches, content, smoking his clay pipe.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • If they acquire a white clay pipe and a chip comes off the bowl, they're going to use it.

    Academic text (2011)
  • I once met a woman who smoked a clay pipe.

  • The men had gone outside to smoke their clay pipes and have some rum.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • He never stopped talking and never once took that broke-stemmed old clay pipe he called his nose-warmer from between his teeth.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • As we saluted Baba, he returned our salute, bowing his head with closed eyes, but without removing the clay pipe from his lips.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The village elders ground the leaves and pressed them into a cane stick or into a clay pipe and only smoked on solemn occasions, but Rodrigo enjoyed it all the time.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Sitting near the riverbank on an improvised mat of large Marantaceae leaves, Aluta cuts tobacco into shreds and tamps it into a tar-blackened clay pipe.

    Academic text (1991)
  • The old man pulled out his clay pipe and filled it with tobacco.

  • During the festival, many people enjoyed their meals along with a clay pipe to smoke.

Synonyms

pipe
vsclay pipe
99 5.5

A small tube with a bowl for smoking tobacco

is made from a hard baked earth material rather than other materials
tobacco pipe
vsclay pipe
1 3.2

A small tube with a bowl that you use to smoke tobacco

is made from a hard baked earth material rather than other materials

How Short

cutty
  • Archaic
9.9
clay pipe
1 4.4

Surface Forms

clay pipe singular
clay pipes plural

Morphology

clay + pipe

The meaning 'a pipe made from clay' is directly compositional from 'clay' (the material) + 'pipe' (a smoking or tubing object), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the referent and likely function. This material + object compound pattern is common across languages, making the expression transparently understandable.

Etymology

Clay pipe is a simple name that comes from the picture of a small smoking pipe made of baked clay. These fragile white pipes were cheap and common long ago, so the name now means 'a pipe for smoking made from clay'.