Meanings
verbpipe-dream (third-person singular simple present pipe-dreams, present participle pipe-dreaming, simple past and past participle pipe-dreamed)
present singular third person pipe-dreams · participle present pipe-dreaming · participle past pipe-dreamed · past pipe-dreamed
- intransitiveTo have a desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or to imagine a plan which is unlikely to work; to dream of a near impossibility.
Love is life sublime, / Ev'ry moment that I'm / Only wasting my time / Pipe dreaming of you, / Pipe dreaming of you, […]
1946 April, Cole Porter, “Around the World in Eighty Days [Pipe Dreaming]”, in Robert Kimball, editor, The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter, New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press, published 1992, →ISBN, page 378, column 1
Origin
From pipe dream (noun).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish nähdä toiveunta, uneksia
- nähdä toiveuntato have a desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or to imagine a plan which is unlikely to work
- uneksiato have a desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or to imagine a plan which is unlikely to work
Cite this entry
APA
pipe-dream. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pipe-dream
MLA
“pipe-dream.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pipe-dream. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pipe-dream,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pipe-dream.
Source: pipe-dream on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.