ope
Americanadjective
verb
Usage
What does ope mean? In casual usage, ope is an interjection used to express surprise or to alert someone, as in Ope, didn’t mean to bump into you!The word ope is considered a Midwestern slang term that’s closely related to oops or whoops. Spill some coffee on your shirt? Ope! You’re going to have to change shirts. Drop something while you’re cooking? Ope! Can’t eat that. Bump into someone on the subway? Ope! My bad! Even though ope is known as Midwestern slang, usage has spread to other parts of the country as well. Ope is also an archaic word meaning “open” and was especially used in poetry and other literature. For example, it appears in William Shakespeare’s play The Life and Death of King John. In Act II, a citizen says to King John, “The mouth of passage shall we fling wide ope, / And give you entrance.” Today, this use of ope is rare. Example: Ope, let me scooch right by ya real quick!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Top Chef This new episode focuses on Nigerian flavors, with chef Ope Amosu and Kwame Onwuachi.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2022
These include the first permanent location of West African pop-up ChopnBlok, a creation of Houston chef Ope Amosu.
From Washington Post • Aug. 18, 2021
Oscar Montgomery, 17, was last seen near Church Ope Cove, Portland, on Wednesday at about 17:00 BST, Dorset Police said.
From BBC • May 28, 2020
Ope rationalizing democracy in non modern societies has not been practical.
From New York Times • Feb. 20, 2018
But soft you, the fair Ophelia: Ope not thy ponderous and marble jaws, But get thee to a nunnery—go!
From The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Tom Sawyer's Comrade by Twain, Mark
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
