bagpiper

bagpiper — noun

1. a performer who plays the bagpipes, especially at ceremonies, parades, or cultur

1.nounB2
Definition

a performer who plays the bagpipes, especially at ceremonies, parades, or cultural events where the instrument's distinctive sound is traditional.

Example

Yuna's grandfather was a bagpiper who played at every town festival.

a bagpiper who

The crowd clapped as Diego, a bagpiper from Santiago, began to play.

a bagpiper from

Common collocations
  • skilled bagpiper
  • traditional bagpiper
  • lone bagpiper
  • play the bagpipes
  • march and play
  • bagpiper performed
Synonyms
  • piper

    broader term; can refer to any pipe instrument player, while bagpiper is specific to bagpipes.

Grammar Patterns

a bagpiper

bagpiper + verb (who plays, performed, marched)

Usage Note

The instrument is almost always referred to in the plural (bagpipes), even when speaking about a single set. A bagpiper plays bagpipes.

Common Mistakes

He is a piper at the wedding.' (if you mean bagpipes).
He is a bagpiper at the wedding.
'piper' can mean a player of any pipe instrument; 'bagpiper' specifies the instrument.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A bagpiper is someone who plays the bagpipes — a specific wind instrument associated mainly with Scottish and Celtic music. A piper can mean the same thing in a Scottish context, but it can also refer to someone who plays any type of pipe (like a recorder or uilleann pipes). Musician is the broadest term of the three — it covers anyone who plays any instrument at any level. If you hear "piper" at a Highland games, it almost certainly means bagpiper, but in general writing it is safer to use bagpiper when the instrument is bagpipes to avoid confusion with other pipe instruments.

bagpiper ↗piper ↗musician ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • play the bagpipes
  • march and play

Etymology

English

Formed in English from 'bagpipe' (the musical instrument, whose name combines 'bag' + 'pipe') and the agent suffix '-er', which turns a noun into a person who works with or performs that thing. The word 'bagpiper' appears in written records from the 1500s.