Smoke & Headshop Dictionary & Terminology

Headshop, Glass, Pipe and Smoke Shop Language & Terminology:

A Dictionary
To better help you find what you are looking for or if you just want to become more familiar with popular terminology, the language, words, or slang used in smoke shops and the tobacco or herb-based smoking industry, this dictionary of headshop, glass, pipe and smoke shop terminology may help:

Adapter: Adapters are used to protect your piece from heat damage as well as to change the sex, angle and size of the joint on your piece.

Ash catcher: Also used as a “pre-cooler”, this device attachment is added to water pipes or bongs and catch ash before it falls into your pipe. Some devices may diffuse or cool smoke.

Atomizer: The heating element on a vaporizer that converts liquids to vapors that you can then inhale.

Banger: An apparatus typically used for dabbing and smoking herbs, plants and/or essential oils.
Some banger products can be found in: Nails & Domes

Banger hanger: A device used to hang a banger quartz nail, thus named “banger hanger”. The design of this device prevents hot air from hitting your face while also preventing heat stress to the vapor rig and joint. It features a bent neck that helps keep water in the chamber rather than your mouth.
Some banger hanger products can be found in: Bongs & Water Pipes

Banger nail: A female joint designed to fit over the male joint on an oil rig. It features a curved glass tube that moves the heat from the torch away from the rig to prevent premature cracking and heat stress on the joint.
Some banger nail products can be found in: Nails & Domes

Bong: A large water pipe. The mouthpiece is typically a tube in which your lips go inside, rather than over like a bubbler or traditional pipe. A “beaker bong” is a popular style in which the device consists of a beaker-shaped base.
Some bong products can be found in: Bongs & Water Pipes

Boro head: Someone who has intensely immersed themselves in the current and upcoming techniques and fads in the glass industry. These individuals have extensive knowledge of glass artists and glass in general.

Borosilicate: A type of glass consisting of 5% boric oxide used to make glass pipes. It is durable, strong and resistant to extreme temperatures, and it also improves its resistance to chemical corrosion.

Bowl: The area on a pipe where you place dry herbs to be combusted and inhaled.
Some bowl products can be found in: Water Pipe Accessories

Bubbler: A hand pipe that uses a small amount of water and features a downstem that leads the smoke into the water for cooling prior to inhalation.

Carb: A hole on the side of a hand pipe that is responsible for regulating airflow. You place a finger on top of the hole to allow smoke into the chamber and release your finger upon inhalation to clear the chamber of smoke.

Carb cap: A cap placed on top of a domeless nail or vapor dome for regulating airflow into your pipe. It is also meant to help the nail retain its temperature so that you evenly burn your concentrates.

Chillum: A straight glass pipe that lacks a carb and offers a similar experience of smoking a rolled substance without the added flavors of tobacco leaves or paper.

Collab: A pipe designed and manufactured by several artists.

Concentrate rig: Also known also a “concentrate pipe” or “dab rig” is a water pipe usually set-up with male joints and comes with a vapor dome and nail. The user can smoke concentrates from this apparatus.

Cone: Pre-rolled cone-shaped papers. Grind your herbs and fill the cone -- no rolling necessary.

Dab rig: A bubbler apparatus designed for dabbing oils. Similar to a concentrate pipe or rig, a dab rig is typically equipped with a dab nail, male joint and vapor dome.

Dabber: The tool used to scoop up concentrates for use on a hot nail for vaporization.

Dichroic glass: In the processing of glass, dichroic generally refers to the use of additional colored glass pieces or particles to show different colors when viewed from different directions.

Diffused downstem: A downstem with slits on the bottom that acts like a percolator to filter the smoke.

Diffusion: When water travels through the percolator and begins to bubble making for a smoother smoking experience.

Dome: A glass piece that fits over the dab nail and traps the vapor so that it may freely flow through the joint of the bubbler. The dome features a hole to dab through on one side and a female joint on the other.

Domeless nail: A nail with a hole in the center designed to direct airflow into the water pipe. It does not require the use of a vapor dome.

Downstem: A long skinny tube in which your bowl slide will fit. It directs the smoke into the water pipe where it is filtered prior to inhalation.

Dugout: A dugout is an all-in-one apparatus that contains two small chambers: one to store a bat and another to store ground, dry herbs. Dugouts are typically made from metal or wood and are useful for travel due to their relatively compact size.

Dry piece: Any smoking apparatus or device that does not use water filtration. They can come in a variety of sizes and shapes, including sidecar, sherlock, hammer, spoon, steamroller and chillum.


ENail: An electronic nail that heats up via a ceramic or metal heating element. It is a vaporizing device used to control the temperature of concentrates with either an analog or digital control dial, thus eliminating the need for a torch.

Filter / screen: Either metal or glass inserts for a bowl that help keep fresh or ashed matter from falling into the pipe.

Flowers: A term that refers to the material or substance you put in the bowl to smoke.

Frit glass: A process of glass soldering using crushed glass or beads generally fused to the inside of a glass pipe that forms a ceramic composition or granular effect creating a type of glass design.

Glass blunt: A straight, hollow glass pipe that features a second hollow straw-like tube for a mouthpiece.

Grinder: A tool used for grinding herbs so that the user may better smoke them. Typically made of wood, steel or plastic, grinders often come with pollen screens and feature little pins or small nails fitted inside the device to help grind up the herbs or dried plants.

Hammers & hammer pipe: A style of pipe that resembles a hammer.

Hand pipe: A glass pipe small enough to fit in your hand that does not use water filtration.

Headshop: A headshop can also be referred to as a “smoke shop”. A headshop is a retail outlet specializing in the sale of smoking equipment items and or odds-and-ends used in relationship to the consumption of tobacco, herbs or other plants designed in forms for smoking.

Heady: A term used as an adjective to express something that is exhilarating, exciting, potent, intoxicating and such.

Heady glass: High-quality, custom, one-of-a-kind glass pipes that incorporate glass art techniques.

Hemp: A material produced from the stems and stalks of a commonly known herb/plant and used in the production of fabrics and rope.

Latticino glass: Also referred to as Zanfirico or Cane glass which is a process in glass design by incorporating colored threads, sometimes twisted into the glass to create the design, style and pattern.

Lathe-made: A term indicating the majority of the process to make the piece was done so on a lathe -- which holds and spins the glass for the manufacturer. The process consists of blowing through the tube, or “lathe,” to create the desired shapes.

Linework: Refers to the striped colored patterns incorporated into a glass pipe.

Millie glass: An Italian term that means “thousand flowers” is used to describe mosaic glass objects. The images are made with colored glass using a technique similar to the one used to make patterns in taffy candy. The images are cut into small chips and incorporated into the glass pipes.

Mini-Tube: A miniature-sized bong.

Nail: The platform which you will heat prior to placing your concentrates. It can be made from titanium, quartz, glass or ceramic.

Nano-rig: A tiny dab/concentrate rig.

Oil pen: An electronic, portable, pen-shaped vaporizer used for vaporizing oils.

Oil rig: Also referred to as a “dab rig,” an oil rig is a specific type of water pipe used primarily for smoking concentrates, extracts or oils.

One-hitter: A slender, smaller pipe typically with a pinched narrow bowl designed for a single inhalation or “one hit”.

Opal: A synthetic gemstone used in glass-blowing that is often encased inside glass marbles.

Percolator: The filtration part of a bong or water pipe that makes the water bubble.

Piece: A slang term that refers to a hand pipe, water pipe or a piece of glass in general.

Pre-cooler: Also used as an “ash catcher”, is an attachment added to water pipes or bongs for cooling fluid, gases or smoke and can act to catch ash before it falls into your pipe.

Pyrex glass: A high-end type of borosilicate glass often used in water pipes and bongs. It is hard, durable, 100% non-toxic and resistant to high temperatures.

Quartz: A type of glass. Unlike Pyrex, quartz can handle extreme temperature changes without shattering or cracking, but it is not as shock-resistant as Pyrex.

Recycler: A water pipe that allows water to drain back to the bottom of the pipe rather than creep into the mouthpiece. Smoke and water travels from chamber to chamber, then back down and through the first chamber, providing a continuous filtration loop effectively cooling the smoke.

Reversal glass: A colorful design of striped zig-zag color patterns featuring a spiral at each end. It is also a form of linework and known as a “wig-wag.”
Some reversal glass products can be found in: Bongs & Water Pipes

Roller: A device used to roll dry herbs into a paper.

Rolling paper: Thin sheets of paper typically made from “rag fibers” such as hemp, flax, sisal and other non-wood plant fibers on which one can place dried plants such as tobacco or dry herbs before rolling it into a cigarette and smoked.

Sandblasted glass: A technique in which high-pressure air is mixed with sand and used to etch or engrave designs into glass.

Scientific glass: Typically, scientific lab glass is any type of borosilicate made glass. The use of this term here is due to science lab glass makers who would use the same glass creation techniques to make smoke pipes.

Sherlock pipe: An S-shaped style of pipe named for Sherlock Holmes. The bowl sits lower while the mouthpiece rests above it.

Sidecar: Refers to the arm of a bubbler, water pipe or oil rig that comes off the side and up at an angle to your mouth.

Silicone rigs: These are dab or oil rigs which are made of silicone. Silicone is more heat resistant and keeps oils and concentrates from sticking to rigs.

Slide: A “bong slide” also referred to as a “bong bowl.” A type of removable bowl that is separate from the main pipe. The two are typically connected via glass-on-glass joints.

Smoke shop: Also referred to as a “headshop,” a smoke shop is a retailer who sells smoking equipment as well as tobacco or other herb and plant smoking accessories

Soft glass: Soft glass is thicker than typical glass. It is ideal and sturdy for everyday or casual use. Soft glass is known for having some of the brightest and most vivid colors.

Spoon pipe: A style of pipe named for its resemblance to a spoon.

Straight tube: A completely straight water pipe.

Tree perc: Also referred to as a “tree percolator,” this device features a tree-like arm of glass tubes that sit inside the water.

Vapor dome: The slip you place over the nail before you place the dab in the center of the nail. As you take a draw on the pipe, the dome directs the airflow down into the pipe.

Vaporizer: A device that vaporizes concentrates or dry matter rather than smoking by combustion.

Vapor rig: A bubbler set-up for dabbling oils that typically features a dome, dab nail and male joint.

Water pipe: A pipe that features a percolator and uses water. This generic term may also describe a bong and/or a bubbler.

Wig-wag glass: A colorful, striped pattern design in glass that sharply waves back and forth with spirals in design.