cooper
noun
a person who makes or repairs casks, barrels, etc.
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cooper
1 American
[koo-per, koop-er]
/ ˈku pər, ˈkʊp ər /
noun
-
coopers
plural
verb (used with object)
-
coopers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
coopered,
past participle, past
-
coopering
present participle
-
to make or repair (casks, barrels, etc.).
-
to furnish or fix (usually followed byup ).
verb (used without object)
-
coopers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
coopered,
past participle, past
-
coopering
present participle
Cooper
2
American
[koo-per, koop-er]
/ ˈku pər, ˈkʊp ər /
noun
-
Anthony Ashley. 1st, 3rd, and 7th Earl of Shaftesbury.
-
Gary Frank James Cooper, 1901–61, U.S. actor.
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Hugh Lincoln, 1865–1937, U.S. hydraulic engineer.
-
James Fenimore 1789–1851, U.S. novelist.
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Leon N., born 1930, U.S. physicist: Nobel Prize 1972.
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Peter, 1791–1883, U.S. inventor, manufacturer, reformer, and philanthropist.
Cooper
1
British
/ ˈkuːpə /
noun
-
Anthony Ashley. See (Earl of) Shaftesbury
-
Cary ( Lynn ). born 1940, British psychologist, noted for his studies of behaviour at work and the causes and treatment of stress
-
Gary, real name Frank James Cooper. 1901–61, US film actor; his many films include Sergeant York (1941) and High Noon (1952), for both of which he won Oscars
-
Sir Henry. 1934–2011, British boxer; European heavyweight champion (1964; 1968–71)
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James Fenimore 1789–1851, US novelist, noted for his stories of American Indians, esp The Last of the Mohicans (1826)
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Leon Neil. born 1930, US physicist, noted for his work on the theory of superconductivity. He shared the Nobel prize for physics 1972
-
Samuel 1609–72, English miniaturist
cooper
2
British
/ ˈkuːpə /
noun
verb
-
(tr) to make or mend (barrels, casks, etc)
-
(intr) to work as a cooper
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
coopersimple
-
cooperssimple
-
have cooperedperfect
-
has cooperedperfect
-
am cooperingprogressive
-
are cooperingprogressive
-
is cooperingprogressive
-
have been cooperingperfect progressive
-
has been cooperingperfect progressive
Past
-
cooperedsimple
-
had cooperedperfect
-
was cooperingprogressive
-
were cooperingprogressive
-
had been cooperingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cooper
1350–1400; Middle English couper < Middle Low German kūper or Middle Dutch cūper < Medieval Latin cūpārius ( Latin cūp ( a ) cask, vat + -ārius -ary )
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.
See Examples For:
The look of the university is an amalgam of Italian, Moorish and American architectural styles, with a blending of materials such as plaster, cooper and wood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2025
A barrel was positioned in front of her, which represented the church’s first meeting nearly 250 years ago in a cooper shop off what’s now known as 28th Street in the Georgetown neighborhood.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 13, 2022
The Resolution mine could fill about 25% of the demand for U.S. cooper.
From Reuters ● Apr. 19, 2021
Mr. Dembowski said the miller was also a slave, as was the cooper who made barrels.
From New York Times ● May 28, 2018
He should have been living with his mother and father in their cottage, rounding off barrels for the cooper or apprenticed to another of the town’s craftsmen.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
The 66-year-old told The Sun, external he discovered the animals were missing when he went to count his flock with Clarkson's Farm co-star Kaleb Cooper.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Cooper agreed that the current memorial “needs some love,” but doesn’t agree that the spot isn’t good enough.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
“International shipping lanes are open, and momentum is building,” Cooper said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Brad Cooper, took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to do damage control.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
“I’ve been texting with this girl named Amelia Cooper, who I met on the Bloodfall forums. She lives in Alabama. Things are going pretty good.”
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
Mr. Fox has carefully rooted through economic history as well as roamed through the countryside in search of traditional artisans, such as bell founders and coopers, to interview.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
In France, coopers dried their wood for up to three years, while U.S. manufacturers tended to stop at a year.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 5, 2016
Skilled coopers still build the barrels, by hand.
From New York Times ● Aug. 27, 2016
But Diageo said the plan would create 110 new jobs aimed at young people including apprentice coopers and coppersmiths.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 6, 2012
In the shops were blacksmiths, coppersmiths, locksmiths, coopers, turners, rope spinners, chandlers, painters, masons, etc.
From The Story of Sitka The Historic Outpost of the Northwest Coast by Clarence Leroy Andrews
The ribs below their throbbing fingers became the wobbly staves of a poorly coopered barrel.
From Time Magazine Archive
As coopered up into print by a quartet of British writers, the earlier lives of the fascinating Bellamy servants have been drowned in tears and treacle.
From Time Magazine Archive
Wooden vessels, either turned or coopered were in common use as table furniture.
From The History of Louisville, from the Earliest Settlement till the Year 1852 by Ben Casseday
In this same keg of ours seemed coopered up life and death, at least so seemed it to honest Jarl.
From Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I by Herman Melville
The captain coopered the head, which was missing, and made holes for me to get the air; but the perspiration ran off my face in a stream.
From Life in the Grey Nunnery at Montreal by Sarah J. Richardson
Ms Cochrane, a former psychiatric nurse, said she discovered coopering after spotting an advert on Facebook.
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2019
Two women have been accepted as coopering apprentices by drinks giant Diageo for the first time.
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2019
Seabrook has denied in sworn affidavits that there was anything improper about the investment and says he is coopering fully with the latest federal probe.
From US News ● May 27, 2015
Dressed-up role-players, who demonstrate such crafts as coopering and pottery, help bring alive Portsmouth’s past and make you feel that you, too, might have loved life in Colonial times.
From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 2013
It was discovered this evening that in consequence of the heat, or from careless coopering, our water-casks had let out their contents, and that we had scarcely any fresh water in the ship.
From James Braithwaite, the Supercargo The Story of his Adventures Ashore and Afloat by Thomas Cantrell Dugdale
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.
