What is "pipe fitting"

Pipe \Pipe\, n. [AS. p[=i]pe, probably fr. L. pipare, pipire, to chirp; of imitative origin. Cf. Peep, Pibroch, Fife.]

1. A wind instrument of music, consisting of a tube or tubes of straw, reed, wood, or metal; any tube which produces musical sounds; as, a shepherd's pipe; the pipe of an organ. ``Tunable as sylvan pipe.''
   --Milton.

   Now had he rather hear the tabor and the pipe.
   --Shak.

2. Any long tube or hollow body of wood, metal, earthenware, or the like: especially, one used as a conductor of water, steam, gas, etc.

3. A small bowl with a hollow stem, -- used in smoking tobacco, and, sometimes, other substances.

4. A passageway for the air in speaking and breathing; the windpipe, or one of its divisions.

5. The key or sound of the voice. [R.]
   --Shak.

6. The peeping whistle, call, or note of a bird.

   The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds.
   --Tennyson.

7. pl. The bagpipe; as, the pipes of Lucknow.

8. (Mining) An elongated body or vein of ore.

9. A roll formerly used in the English exchequer, otherwise called the Great Roll, on which were taken down the accounts of debts to the king; -- so called because put together like a pipe.
   --Mozley & W.

10. (Naut.) A boatswain's whistle, used to call the crew to their duties; also, the sound of it.

11. [Cf. F. pipe, fr. pipe a wind instrument, a tube, fr. L. pipare to chirp. See Etymol. above.] A cask usually containing two hogsheads, or 126 wine gallons; also, the quantity which it contains.

    Pipe fitter, one who fits pipes together, or applies pipes, as to an engine or a building.

    Pipe fitting, a piece, as a coupling, an elbow, a valve, etc., used for connecting lengths of pipe or as accessory to a pipe.

    Pipe office, an ancient office in the Court of Exchequer, in which the clerk of the pipe made out leases of crown lands, accounts of cheriffs, etc. [Eng.]

    Pipe tree (Bot.), the lilac and the mock orange; -- so called because their were formerly used to make pipe stems; -- called also pipe privet.

    Pipe wrench, or Pipe tongs, a jawed tool for gripping a pipe, in turning or holding it.

    To smoke the pipe of peace, to smoke from the same pipe in token of amity or preparatory to making a treaty of peace, -- a custom of the American Indians.

n. fitting consisting of threaded pieces of pipe for joining pipes together [syn: pipefitting]

Pipe fitting is the occupation of installing or repairing piping or tubing systems that convey liquid, gas, and occasionally solid materials. This work involves selecting and preparing pipe or tubing, joining it together by various means, and the location and repair of leaks.

Pipe fitting work is done in many different settings: HVAC, manufacturing, hydraulics, refineries, nuclear-powered Supercarriers and Fast Attack Submarines computer chip fab plants, power plant construction and other steam systems. Pipe fitters (sometimes called simply "fitters") are represented in the USA and Canada by the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada.

Fitters work with a variety of pipe and tubing materials including several types of steel, copper, iron, aluminium, and plastic. Pipe fitting is not plumbing; the two are related but separate trades. Pipe fitters who specialize in fire prevention are called Sprinklerfitters, another related, but separate trade.

Materials, techniques, and usages vary from country to country as different nations have different standards to install pipe.