Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A person who offers others strong yet delusive enticements.
- noun One, such as a leader, who makes irresponsible promises.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun That which
draws many in itswake .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[After The Pied Piper of Hamelin, title and hero of a poem by Robert Browning.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From the folk tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, who led away the townsfolk's children in revenge for being unpaid for ridding the town of rats.
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Examples
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jwjarvis commented on the word pied piper
The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in pied (multicolored) clothing, leading the children away from the town never to return. In the 16th century the story was expanded into a full narrative, in which the piper is a rat-catcher hired by the town to lure rats away with his magic pipe. When the citizenry refuses to pay for this service, he retaliates by turning his magic on their children, leading them away as he had the rats
February 17, 2011
bilby commented on the word pied piper
Not to be confused with the pide piper who, with his ney a-warbling, cleared the town of Turkish pizza joints.
February 17, 2011
hernesheir commented on the word pied piper
I own a hand-colored lithograph from an antique folio-sized volume that illustrated the costumes of medieval France. My print depicts traveling musicians - The piper plays a simple cornemuse, and is dressed in a cap with donkey ears and clothing that is not particolored. The flautist wears dark green and white pied livery. Both costumes are very reminiscent of those I've seen worn by Morris dance participants.
February 17, 2011