What it means
لولهکش (lule-kesh) is the everyday Persian word for a plumber. It is a native compound built from two Persian elements: لوله (lule), meaning pipe or tube, and کش (kesh), the agent suffix from کشیدن (keshidan), meaning to pull or to draw. Together they describe the person who installs and runs the pipes. The word has been in the language since the widespread use of indoor plumbing and carries no foreign borrowing. A closely related noun is لولهکشی (lule-keshi), which refers both to the trade itself and to the plumbing system of a building.
How to use it
- باید یه لولهکش بیاد، شیر آب خراب شده. (bâyad ye lule-kesh biyâd, shir-e âb kharâb shodeh.) “We need a plumber to come, the faucet is broken.”
- لولهکش گفت لولهها زنگ زدن. (lule-kesh goft lule-hâ zang zadan.) “The plumber said the pipes have rusted.”
- شماره یه لولهکش خوب داری؟ (shomâre-ye ye lule-kesh-e khub dâri?) “Do you have the number of a good plumber?”
- لولهکش تا شب اینجاست. (lule-kesh tâ shab injâst.) “The plumber will be here until evening.”
Cultural note
In Iran, plumbers are typically called directly by phone rather than through a central booking service, and word-of-mouth recommendations are the norm. A trusted لولهکش in a neighbourhood is a valued contact, especially in older Tehran apartment buildings where pipes from the 1960s and 1970s still run beneath the walls. The suffix کش appears in many Persian agent nouns, such as نقشهکش (draftsman, one who draws plans) and آبکش (water-drawer), showing a productive Persian pattern for naming those who pull or run something.