piping hot
/ˌpaɪpɪŋ ˈhɑt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.41 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see piping, hot: very hot in a way that involves sizzling, crackling, or similar noises.
adj
Very hot.
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonyms: boiling hot, scalding hot, steaming hot, steaming, baking hot; see also Thesaurus:hot"
- "Don't touch the pie! It's piping hot, straight out of the oven."
- "Watch out — that curling iron is still piping hot."
- "You will see that my breakfast is piping hot, And rub the clothes to a snowy whiteness"
- "Cook 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."
Etymology
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
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: -
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌpaɪpɪŋ ˈhɑt/
- British English: /ˌpaɪ.pɪŋ ˈhɒt/