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• hopper
  hopper

  noun

  a person or thing that hops.
• Hopper
  Hopper

  noun

  Edward, 1882–1967, U.S. painter and etcher.

hopper

¹ American  

[hop-er] / ˈhɒp ər /

noun

• hoppers
  plural

1. a person or thing that hops.

2. Informal. a person who travels or moves frequently from one place or situation to another (usually used in combination).

   a two-week tour designed for energetic city-hoppers.

3. any of various jumping insects, as grasshoppers or leafhoppers.

4. Australian. kangaroo.

5. a funnel-shaped chamber or bin in which loose material, as grain or coal, is stored temporarily, being filled through the top and dispensed through the bottom.

6. Railroads. hopper car.

7. U.S. Politics. a box into which a proposed legislative bill is dropped and thereby officially introduced.

8. one of the pieces at each side of a hopper casement.

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idioms

1. in the hopper, in preparation; about to be realized.

   Plans for the class reunion are in the hopper.

Hopper ² American  

[hop-er] / ˈhɒp ər /

noun

1. Edward, 1882–1967, U.S. painter and etcher.

2. Grace Murray, 1906–92, U.S. naval officer and computer scientist.

3. (William) De Wolf 1858–1935, U.S. actor.

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Hopper ¹ British  

/ ˈhɒpə /

noun

1. Edward. 1882–1967, US painter, noted for his realistic depiction of everyday scenes

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hopper ² British  

/ ˈhɒpə /

noun

1. a person or thing that hops

2. a funnel-shaped chamber or reservoir from which solid materials can be discharged under gravity into a receptacle below, esp for feeding fuel to a furnace, loading a railway truck with grain, etc

3. a machine used for picking hops

4. any of various long-legged hopping insects, esp the grasshopper, leaf hopper, and immature locust

5. Also called: hoppercar. an open-topped railway truck for bulk transport of loose minerals, etc, unloaded through doors on the underside

6. another name for cocopan

7. computing a device formerly used for holding punched cards and feeding them to a card punch or card reader

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Hopper Scientific  

/ hŏp′ər /

1. American mathematician and computer programmer who in 1951 conceived the idea for an internal computer program, called a compiler, that scanned a set of alphanumeric instructions (such as words and symbols) and compiled a set of binary instructions executed by the machine. Her ideas were widely influential in the development of programming languages, in particular COBOL.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• hoppers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of hopper

Middle English word dating back to 1200–50; see origin at hop ¹, -er ¹

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Explanation

A hopper is a funnel-shaped device used to move material from one receptacle to another. This type of hopper has nothing to do with hopping or jumping: it's a device — the kind you're most likely to see in a chemistry lab — for moving substances from one container to another. If you need to pour a large beaker of liquid into a tiny test tube, the hopper lets you move the liquid without spilling. Solid, grain-like substances could also be moved using a hopper. Many factories will have hoppers as part of their machinery too.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hopper Hopper hoppers

“This creates a strong platform to invest with discipline into our distinctive deep hopper of oil & gas opportunities,” BP said.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 10, 2026

Bills don’t get passed merely because someone drops a draft in the hopper.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025

After watching the first six episodes of its full 12, you may thank the Universe that there aren’t more rounds in the hopper.

From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2025

The hopper should be released from the main spacecraft in coming days and fly up to 100m in altitude.

From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2025

Lupita had no idea how long they had been in the hopper, but it must have been an hour at least.

From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty

Mr. Shadwick quotes a perceptive entry in Pène du Bois’s diary, in which Hopper, who stood 6-feet-5-inches tall, is described as:

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Hopper was a lonely prowler, a connoisseur of half-deserted automats, elevated railways and women glimpsed through windows.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

And much like Parsons, Hopper, and the other established columnists of the fan magazine era, there’s a push towards utilizing these same studios to further one’s brand.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026

In a December 2024 letter to Bass, the Rev. Mark Hopper of the Evangelical Free Church expressed similar concerns and asked the mayor to stop the project.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

She thought about touching the Hoppers’ money and how mad Mr. Hopper had been, and how mad she got when Mr. Hopper pulled the jar of quarters away from Dallas and yelled at him.

From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech

International students, so-called "visa hoppers" and backpackers will be targeted under stricter rules announced by Australia on Thursday in a bid to curb immigration.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

China has built the robotic infrastructure—sensors, hoppers and relay satellites—needed for a permanent lunar base.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026

However, earlier in 2025, job stayers actually saw more wage growth than job hoppers.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 21, 2026

Nearly vertical conveyor belts lifted dry ingredients high up to be deposited into hoppers where they were mixed with water and then the wet concrete was poured into waiting trucks below.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2024

The Iron Worm squeaks, groans, and clanks—black tankers, rust-colored boxcars, and gray hoppers winding north on a single track that parallels the Pacific coast.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

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