pipe dream

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See also: pipedream and pipe-dream

English

WOTD – 21 January 2025

Etymology

From pipe +‎ dream, referring to the fantasies experienced when smoking an opium pipe.[1] Compare Old English pīpdrēam (“the sound or music of a pipe”), which is formed identically but has a different meaning.

Pronunciation

Noun

pipe dream (plural pipe dreams)

  1. (idiomatic, originally US) A desire or idea which is unlikely to materialize, or a plan which is unlikely to work; a near impossibility.
    Synonyms: castle in the air, pie in the sky
    Coordinate term: figment of one's imagination
    I think that his plan to become a professional athlete is a pipe dream and that he should stay in school.
    • 1962 December, “Dr. Beeching Previews the Plan for British Railways”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 376:
      Only a year ago it would have needed a "super-Micawber" to be optimistic that the railways would once again pay their way. But it was no longer a pipe dream that B.R. could make a profit, the way to do it was now clear.

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Translations

References

  1. ^ “pipe dream, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “pipe dream, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

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