petticoat pipe

noun

A short, flaring pipe surrounding the blast nozzle in the smokebox of a locomotive, to equalize the draft.

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Meanings

nounpetticoat pipe (plural petticoat pipes)

plural petticoat pipes

  1. rail transportA short, flaring pipe surrounding the blast nozzle in the smokebox of a locomotive, to equalize the draft.

    The ordinary blast-nozzle and petticoat pipe properly proportioned for any British locomotive can make it produce 30 d.b.h.p./sq ft of grate continuously with a blast-pipe pressure 4 lb/sq in. above atmospheric pressure.

    1962 February, “Letters to the Editor: The Giesel oblong ejector”, in Modern Railways, page 143, letter from W. A. Tuplin
Cite this entry
APA

petticoat pipe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petticoat%20pipe

MLA

“petticoat pipe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petticoat%20pipe. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “petticoat pipe,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petticoat%20pipe.

Source: petticoat pipe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.