pied piper
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pied piper
n.
1. A person who offers others strong yet delusive enticements.
2. One, such as a leader, who makes irresponsible promises.
[After The Pied Piper of Hamelin, , title and hero of a poem by Robert Browning.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Pied Piper
n
1. (European Myth & Legend) Also called: the Pied Piper of Hamelin (in German legend) a piper who rid the town of Hamelin of rats by luring them away with his music and then, when he was not paid for his services, lured away its children
2. (sometimes not capitals) a person who entices others to follow him
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
Pied′ Pip′er
n.
1. the hero of a German folk legend, popularized in The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1842) by Robert Browning, who charms the city's rats into a river with his magical pipe-playing.
2. (sometimes l.c.) a person who induces others to follow or imitate him or her.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Noun | 1. | pied piper - a leader who entices people to follow (especially to their doom) leader - a person who rules or guides or inspires others |
2. | Pied Piper - the title character in a German folk tale and in a poem by Robert Browning |
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