crupper

[ kruhp-er, kroo p- ]

/ ˈkrʌp ər, ˈkrʊp- /

noun

a leather strap fastened to the saddle of a harness and looping under the tail of a horse to prevent the harness from slipping forward.

the rump or buttocks of a horse.

armor for the rump of a horse.

Nearby words

crunchy, crunchy-granola, crunk, crunode, cruor, crupper, crura, crural, crural canal, crural hernia, crural sheath

Origin of crupper

1250–1300; Middle English cro(u)per, variant of cruper < Anglo-French. See croup², -er²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for crupper

I good naturedly offered to take him on the crupper, and let him ride as far as the market-place, and he eagerly thanked me.
The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 2, May, 1851|Various
The load was then tied closely to the crupper of the saddle and the boy was ready to start on his homeward trip.
The Boy Settlers|Noah Brooks
Then getting to a safe distance, he proposed to pull the string and lift the tail for his brother to pass the crupper under.
Phaeton Rogers|Rossiter Johnson
The crupper was adorned with two golden lions, figured with their paws raised in the act of striking each other.
Richard I|Jacob Abbott

It is thus, besides, that Bourgelat measured the head for comparison with the crupper (see p. 266, paragraph 4).
Artistic Anatomy of Animals|douard Cuyer

British Dictionary definitions for crupper

crupper

/ (ˈkrʌpə) /

noun

a strap from the back of a saddle that passes under the horse's tail to prevent the saddle from slipping forwards

the part of the horse's rump behind the saddle

Word Origin for crupper

C13: from Old French crupiere, from crupe croup ²

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012