piping hot

WOTD - 20 December 2007    

English

Etymology

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 [1] 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

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˌpaɪ.pɪŋ ˈhɒt/, SAMPA: /%paI.pIN "hQt/
• (US) enPR: pīʹpĭng hŏt, IPA: /ˌpaɪpɪŋ ˈhɑːt/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -ɒt

Adjective

piping hot (not comparable)

Positive piping hot

Comparative not comparable

Superlative none (absolute)

1. (idiomatic) Very hot.

   "Don't touch the pie! It's piping hot, straight out of the oven."

Translations

very hot

Hungarian: tűzforró hu(hu)

Polish: wrzący pl(pl) m.

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