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Pied piper of contemporary design The Big Question I’m finally ready to pull the trigger and start renovating all of my houses—we’ve got properties in Aspen, the Hamptons, and Palm Beach.—The Editors, Robb Report, 30 Mar. 2025 Splendid orange animal piper on the label of this 14% alcohol wine that includes piqued and piquant aromas of blue fruit, vanilla, orange peels, wet granite, fern glen, soda lime and flint.—Tom Mullen, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2025 The Bruins are paying the piper for trading four first-round picks — part of the costs of acquiring Nash, Ondrej Kase, Lindholm and Orlov — in the last seven years and falling short on their other selections.—Fluto Shinzawa, The Athletic, 23 Feb. 2025 With bo la lot, seasoned ground beef is rolled in piper sarmentosum, also colloquially known as wild betel leaves, which have an herbal and peppery flavor when cooked.—Christina Liao, Vogue, 27 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for piper
Word History
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of piper was
before the 12th century
: a very large genus (the type of the family Piperaceae) of tropical plants that comprise the true peppers, are mostly climbing jointed shrubs with pulpy fruit, and include the betel (P. betle), kava (P. methysticum), and matico (P. angustifolium) and the sources of cubebs (from P. cubeba) and black and white pepper (from P. nigrum)
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