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• lop
  lop

  verb (used with object)

  to cut off (branches, twigs, etc.) from a tree or other plant.
• LOP
  LOP

  abbreviation

  line of position.

lop

¹ American  

[lop] / lɒp /

verb (used with object)

lopped, lopping

1. to cut off (branches, twigs, etc.) from a tree or other plant.

2. to cut off (a limb, part, or the like) from a person, animal, etc.

3. to cut off the branches, twigs, etc., of (a tree or other plant).

4. to eliminate as unnecessary or excessive.

   We had to lop off whole pages of the report before presenting it to the committee.

5. Archaic. to cut off the head, limbs, etc., of (a person).

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verb (used without object)

lopped, lopping

1. to cut off branches, twigs, etc., as of a tree.

2. to remove parts by or as by cutting.

noun

1. parts or a part lopped off.

2. (of trees) the smaller branches and twigs not useful as timber.

lop ² American  

[lop] / lɒp /

verb (used without object)

lopped, lopping

1. to hang loosely or limply; droop.

2. to sway, move, or go in a drooping or heavy, awkward way.

3. to move in short, quick leaps.

   a rabbit lopping through the garden.

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verb (used with object)

lopped, lopping

1. to let hang or droop.

   He lopped his arms at his sides in utter exhaustion.

adjective

1. hanging down limply or droopingly.

   lop ears.

LOP ³ American  

abbreviation

Navigation.

1. line of position.

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lop ¹ British  

/ lɒp /

verb

1. to sever (parts) from a tree, body, etc, esp with swift strokes

2. to cut out or eliminate from as excessive

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noun

1. a part or parts lopped off, as from a tree

lop ² British  

/ lɒp /

verb

1. to hang or allow to hang loosely

2. (intr) to slouch about or move awkwardly

3. (intr) a less common word for lope

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lop ³ British  

/ lɒp /

noun

1. dialect a flea

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Other Word Forms

• lopper
  noun

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Etymology

Origin of lop¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; late Middle English loppe “cut off twigs or branches”; further origin uncertain; perhaps akin to Old English loppe “spider”; see lop ², lobster

Origin of lop²

First recorded in 1570–80; verb use of obsolete noun lop “spider” or lop “drooping part of a tree,” that is, “to behave like a lop, to dangle, hang loosely”; see lop ¹, lob ¹

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Explanation

To lop is to cut a chunk of something off. You could lop off your long hair, or lop off the top of a Christmas tree to make it fit in your living room. You can physically lop things, like when you lop the brown branches off of your ailing rose bush or lop off the bottoms of your jeans to make shorts. There is a figurative way to lop too, as when an editor decides to lop the ending off a story. Or, if you choose to drive to work instead of riding your bike, you can lop an hour off the time it takes to get there.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lop LOP lopped lopping

The AI did, however, lop off part of my hair.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025

The bonus deduction is written to lop $6,000 or $12,000 from a household’s yearly taxable income.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 22, 2025

The council granted a license for the work with specific instructions to "lop the trees, as opposed to felling them" and stated that the work should be completed outside the bird nesting season.

From BBC ● Dec. 7, 2023

State lotteries typically lop off 24% of winnings for federal taxes, and the bill can run even higher because the top federal income tax rate is 37%.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 7, 2023

He said, “I just center the subject as best I can and lop off whatever hangs over on either end.”

From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan

All proceeds will go towards the LOP skateboard foundation, providing kids with skateboard equipment and artistic inspiration.

From Time Magazine Archive

A sun sight does not give latitude or longitude, but it will give a LOP.

From Time Magazine Archive

And now I will tell you of a province called Lop, in which there is a city, also called LOP, which you come to at the end of those five days.

From The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Henry Yule

That’s lopped several dollars from global oil prices, produced an easing in Treasury bond yields, and stoked risk appetite—tied in large part to the improving AI sentiment.

From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026

The couple watched as a contractor for the local utility company methodically lopped off big sections of the beech outside their home.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

A drop in federal spending lopped almost a full percentage point off GDP.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 20, 2026

The fruits of all that research have been blithely and abruptly lopped off the vine.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2025

In 1958, as we’ve seen, twenty miles were lopped off the southern end from Mount Oglethorpe to Springer Mountain.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

Shares in Oracle have tumbled 40% since early September, lopping nearly $360 billion from its market value, since the company unveiled a huge jump in projected revenue from its burgeoning AI business.

From Barron's ● Nov. 21, 2025

Roley moved from Arizona to Idaho in 2023 to work for his father's tree lopping company, his mother said in a social media post.

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2025

Kipp has estimated that difference in oxygen consumption could result in a three-hour marathoner lopping three minutes off their finish time—reminiscent of the super-shoe manufacturer’s claim of a 4 percent oxygen consumption improvement.

From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2024

Heeding their calls, the City Council redrew district boundaries in 1972, lopping off Boyle Heights and El Sereno from Lindsay’s district and putting them in the 14th.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2024

It feels less Darwinian than Swiftian; it calls to mind a long-ago dart attributed to G. K. Chesterton: when there aren’t enough hats to go around, the problem isn’t solved by lopping off some heads.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

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