Meanings
- not comparableUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see piping, hot: very hot in a way that involves sizzling, crackling, or similar noises.
Don't touch the pie! It's piping hot, straight out of the oven.
1 more example
Near-synonyms: boiling hot, scalding hot, steaming hot, steaming, baking hot; see also Thesaurus:hot
Synonyms: hissing hot, boiling hot, scalding hot, steaming hot, steaming, baking hot, hot, calid · Antonyms: freezing cold, freezing, ice-cold, icy, algid, Arctic, Baltic, boreal
- broadlyidiomaticnot comparableVery hot.
Watch out — that curling iron is still piping hot.
2 more examples
You will see that my breakfast is piping hot, And rub the clothes to a snowy whiteness
1909, George Melville Baker, Pieces People Ask For, A Lesson to LoversCook until tender in a moderate oven (350° F.)—allow about 2½ hours. Turn occasionally for even cooking. Remove the strings before serving. Serve piping hot with gravy made from the pan drippings, or chill and serve cold.
1942, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Home Economics, Foods and Nutrition Division, Meat for Thrifty MealsSynonyms: hissing hot, boiling hot, scalding hot, smoking hot, steaming hot, steaming, hot, calid · Antonyms: freezing cold, freezing, ice-cold, icy, algid, Arctic, Baltic, boreal
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see piping, hot: very hot in a way that involves sizzling, crackling, or similar noises.
adjectiveVery hot.
Origin
From Middle English. First attested circa second half of 14th century, from the similarity between the sizzling sound of food cooking in a frying pan and that of musical pipes, from Canterbury Tales http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2383 by Geoffrey Chaucer: :: "He singeth brokking¹ as a nightingale. / He sent her piment, mead, and spiced ale, / And wafers² piping hot out of the glede³: / And, for she was of town, he proffer'd meed." :: ¹ quavering, ² cakes, ³ coals
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French brûlant
- brûlantvery hot
German glühend heiß
- glühend heißvery hot
Hebrew לוֹהֵט
- לוֹהֵט (lohét)very hot
Hindi गर्मागर्म
- गर्मागर्म (garmāgarm)very hot
Hungarian tűzforró
- tűzforróvery hot
Italian bollente
- bollentevery hot
Polish wrzący
- wrzącyvery hot
Portuguese pelando
- pelandovery hot
Russian горячо
- горячо (gorjačo)very hot
Swedish stekhet, brännhet
- stekhetvery hot
- brännhetvery hot
- skållhetvery hot
Vietnamese nóng hổi, nóng hôi hổi
- nóng hổivery hot
- nóng hôi hổivery hot
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with piping hot
Cite this entry
piping hot. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/piping%20hot
“piping hot.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/piping%20hot. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “piping hot,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/piping%20hot.
Source: piping hot on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.