Jump To:

• 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.

---

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

---

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

---

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.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• hoppers
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of hopper

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

---

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

They have prestige titles including Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Digger” and Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Three” in the hopper as well as Christian Parkes’ new division, meant for films of the A24 or Neon variety.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 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

In the barn they scavenged a few handfuls of some grain he did not recognize out of the dusty floor of a metal hopper and stood eating it dust and all.

From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy

Airfares this holiday season will be the highest they have been in at least a decade, according to data compiled by Hopper, a travel-booking company.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026

Hopper would later insist on the absolute absence of any social commentary in his work, claiming that he was simply painting his own inner life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

While there were established columnists like Walter Winchell, Adela Rogers St. Johns, Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, most articles in these magazines either went unbylined or were written under pseudonyms.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026

Jacques Marie Mage celebrates a Decade of Hopper, a limited-edition collection of eyewear and accessories that mark the brand’s 10-year collaboration with the legacy of filmmaker Dennis Hopper.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

There was nothing for it but to sit in my usual place beside Mrs. Van Hopper while she, like a large, complacent spider, spun her wide net of tedium about the stranger’s person.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

Job hoppers often make the switch for more money.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

"You can't win year after year after year after year, like the Patriots or the Yankees. They're bandwagon hoppers, they love to get on the bandwagon for a good team, and that's not soccer."

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 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

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• bag
• bottle
• bowl
• box
• bucket
• can
• canister
• capsule
• carton
• crate
• dish
• jar
• jug
• kettle
• package
• packet
• pail
• pot
• pouch
• sack

---