Pied Piper

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Pied Pip·er / ˈpīd ˈpīpər/ the hero of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, a poem by Robert Browning (1842), based on an old German legend. The piper, dressed in particolored costume, rid the town of Hamelin (Hameln) in Brunswick of rats by enticing them away with his music, and when refused the promised payment he lured away the children of the citizens. ∎  [as n.] (a Pied Piper) a person who entices people to follow them, esp. to their doom.

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