Meanings
plural hornpipes
- entertainmentA musical instrument consisting of a wooden pipe, with holes at intervals.
- A solo dance commonly associated with seamen, involving kicking of the legs, with the arms mostly crossed.
- A hard-shoe solo dance commonly performed in Irish stepdance, usually danced in 2/4 time.
- Music played to the hornpipe dance
present singular third person hornpipes · participle present hornpiping · participle past hornpiped · past hornpiped
- intransitiveTo dance the hornpipe.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan ancient (now obsolete) single-reed woodwind; usually made of bone
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishhornpipe
- Englishhornpipe
From Middle English hornpipe, hornpype, hornepipe, equivalent to horn + pipe; so called because the bell at the open end was sometimes made of horn.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
hornpipe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hornpipe
“hornpipe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hornpipe. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hornpipe,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hornpipe.
Source: hornpipe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.