lollop
Americanverb (used without object)
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British Dialect. to loll; lounge.
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to move forward with a bounding or leaping motion.
verb
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to walk or run with a clumsy or relaxed bouncing movement
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a less common word for lounge
Etymology
Origin of lollop
First recorded in 1735–45; extended variant of loll
Explanation
To lollop is to walk or run in an awkward, galloping way. Energetic, long-legged puppies tend to lollop around, stumbling and leaping as they go. When people lollop, they do a kind of goofy gallop — a little kid is much more likely to lollop than her dignified grandfather is. Young animals also tend to lollop, like a clumsy young colt or a bouncy, capering kitten. The verb lollop probably comes from loll, "to lounge idly," which is thought to be imitative in origin — in other words, the word itself sounds like rocking or swinging.
Vocabulary lists containing lollop
A Thousand Splendid Suns
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The BFG
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A Dog Called Homeless
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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.
She then told officers the pair crossed the path and went into a nearby field, at first walking and then starting to run, "but it wasn't a sprint, more of a lollop".
From BBC • Nov. 30, 2023
The Andrex Phase, when they lollop around irresistibly, kicks in at about five weeks.
From BBC • Dec. 23, 2018
But he often couldn’t express himself with grace; the large ideas tended to lollop and collapse on the page.
From The New Yorker • May 22, 2017
But is it sensible to look for much meaning beyond that, as we lollop along, double-dipping through recession?
From The Guardian • Jul. 28, 2012
He began to lollop back to the wood.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
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.
