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Synonyms

hopper

1 American  
[hop-er] / ˈhɒp ər /

noun

  1. a person or thing that hops. hop.

  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.

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.

Hopper 1 British  
/ ˈhɒpə /

noun

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

"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
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

"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
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.

Etymology

Origin of hopper

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

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.

"We've got a lot of things in the hopper," he said.

From BBC • Feb. 10, 2026

“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

Aureliano threw a coin into the hopper that the matron had in her lap and went into the room without knowing why.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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.