a. [ From Pipe, v. ] 1. Playing on a musical pipe. “Lowing herds and piping swains.” Swift. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Peaceful; favorable to, or characterized by, the music of the pipe rather than of the drum and fife. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. Emitting a high, shrill sound. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. Simmering; boiling; sizzling; hissing; -- from the sound of boiling fluids. [ 1913 Webster ] Piping crow, Piping crow shrike, Piping roller (Zool.), any Australian bird of the genus Gymnorhina, esp. Gymnorhina tibicen, which is black and white, and the size of a small crow. Called also caruck. -- Piping frog (Zool.), a small American tree frog (Hyla Pickeringii) which utters a high, shrill note in early spring. -- Piping hot, boiling hot; hissing hot; very hot. [ Colloq. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]
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