# hornpipe

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. A musical instrument consisting of a wooden pipe, with holes at intervals.
2. A solo dance commonly associated with seamen, involving kicking of the legs, with the arms mostly crossed.
3. A hard-shoe solo dance commonly performed in Irish stepdance, usually danced in 2/4 time.
4. Music played to the hornpipe dance

## Etymology
From Middle English hornpipe, hornpype, hornepipe, equivalent to horn + pipe; so called because the bell at the open end was sometimes made of horn.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hornpipe