stovepipe
noun

- a man's tall silk hat

- a metal pipe used to carry off smoke or fumes from a stove

- an isolated and narrow channel of communication

Collins Dictionary / Merriam-Webster

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WORD ORIGIN

The word "stovepipe" has a long and interesting etymology. It is ultimately derived from the Old English word "pipe," which is related to the German word Pfeife and the Dutch word pijp.

The word "pipe" originally referred to any tubular object, but it eventually came to specialize in referring to objects that were used to convey liquids or gases.

The first recorded use of the word "stovepipe" is in the 1690s, where it specifically referred to a pipe that was used to conduct smoke and gases from a stove to a chimney. This sense of the word is still in common use today.

In the 1850s, the word "stovepipe" was also used to refer to a type of hat that was popular at the time. This hat was typically tall and cylindrical, and it resembled the pipes that were used to conduct smoke and gases from stoves.

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LINCOLN’S SECRET

The stovepipe hat was one of Lincoln’s signature accessories, and the final hat he ever wore is now kept at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

The top hat helped the 6-foot-4 President tower over crowds even more than he naturally did, but the adornment wasn’t just used for looks: The President actually kept documents in the hat while he was wearing it. Lincoln would often remove papers (letters from friends, as well as speeches), from his hat while addressing constituents, and he was also known to take documents from atop his head and throw them down in front of generals in anger.

According to some historians, the phrase “keep it under your hat” — meaning to keep something secret — comes from Lincoln’s habit.

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SYNONYMS

- for a head-covering:

babushka, baseball cap, beanie, beret, boater, bonnet, bowler, bucket hat, fedora, flat cap, hard hat, head wear, head-dress, headpiece, helmet, head cap (piece, protector, topper), lid, Panama hat, pork pie hat, skull cap, sky-piece, skullpiece, sombrero, STOVE-PIPE, straw/sun bonnet, sun hat, sunshade, ten-gallon hat, terra-cotta soldier hat, turban, witch hat

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