pipe off

verb

To watch (a person or building) for purposes of theft.

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Meanings

verbpipe off (third-person singular simple present pipes off, present participle piping off, simple past and past participle piped off)

present singular third person pipes off · participle present piping off · participle past piped off · past piped off

  1. datedslangtransitiveTo watch (a person or building) for purposes of theft.

    To put the matter to further test, on the succeeding night other of their men were instructed to "pipe off" the place still more cautiously. But these too were discovered by Miles's vigilant but bogus police, given chase to, and unmercifully clubbed.

    1900, Allan Pinkerton, Professional Thieves and the Detective
Cite this entry
APA

pipe off. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pipe%20off

MLA

“pipe off.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pipe%20off. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pipe off,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pipe%20off.

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