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definitions

crupper

[kruhp-er, kroo p-]
noun
  1. 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.
  2. the rump or buttocks of a horse.
  3. armor for the rump of a horse.

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. 2018

Examples from the Web for crupper

Historical Examples of crupper

  • Crupper's no hog; he knows when he's had plenty, and New York's good enough for him.

  • Go on, Mr. Fleming; who else was there besides Crupper, Smollet, and yourself?'

  • Crupper cabled from Carlsbad that he was ill, and had not been out of bed for a month.

  • Edouard took a run, and lighted like a monkey on the horse's crupper.

    White Lies

    Charles Reade

  • When the crupper was let out a hole or two it all fitted well.

    Black Beauty

    Anna Sewell

British Dictionary definitions for crupper

crupper

noun
  1. a strap from the back of a saddle that passes under the horse's tail to prevent the saddle from slipping forwards
  2. 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