stovepipe

1 of 2

noun

stove·​pipe ˈstōv-ˌpīp 

1

: pipe of large diameter usually of sheet steel used as a stove chimney or to connect a stove with a flue

2

: silk hat

3

: an isolated and narrow channel of communication

Instead of streamlining Washington's ability to perform, the department clogged it up with new layers of bureaucracy and stovepipes of information.

—Christopher Cooper and Robert Block

We had 18 intelligence agencies, and they had what was called the famous stovepipes. They wouldn't share with each other, wouldn't talk to each other.

—Jay Rockefeller

stovepipe

2 of 2

verb

stovepiped; stovepiping; stovepipes

transitive verb

: to transmit (information) to a higher level in an organization through an isolated and narrow channel of communication

This [Pentagon policy] office, which circumvented the usual procedures of vetting and transparency, stovepiped many of its findings to the highest-ranking officials.

—Seymour M. Hersh

Examples of stovepipe in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The end of each round of balloting will be signaled by smoke emanating from a stovepipe chimney atop the Sistine Chapel. —David Brennan, ABC News, 7 May 2025

And, just as with the first twister, a small nub started dropping and circulating from the wall cloud, but was shaped more like a stout stovepipe. —Jim Clash, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2025

The smoke that wafts from the chimney is created using chemical pellets that are burned in another stove that's connected to the stovepipe chimney, which is temporarily erected atop the Sistine Chapel just for that purpose. —Christopher Watson, ABC News, 25 Apr. 2025

And more often than not, there was Abraham Lincoln, singing along in a black suit and a stovepipe hat. —James Barron, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1784, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1988, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for stovepipe

• allotype
• antitype
• archetype
• biotype
• collotype
• genotype
• haplotype
• holotype
• hypotype
• isotype
• lectotype
• linotype

Kids Definition

stovepipe

noun

stove·​pipe ˈstōv-ˌpīp 

1

: a metal pipe for carrying off smoke from a stove

2

: a tall silk hat