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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

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

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 new apartment will lop nearly $800 off their rent, said his wife, 36, adding, “It will be a great help, especially when we’re looking for child care.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 6, 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

In his Newsnight interview, Lowe said of Farage's "brutal" leadership style "If people become, if you like, too tall a poppy, he tends to lop off the head of the poppy".

From BBC ● May 15, 2025

Then, the night before they hit the water, they’ll lop it all off.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 18, 2023

“First you gotta go in and lop off the branches. Then you chop down the trunk.”

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

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

From Time Magazine Archive

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

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 tree still stands with its major branches and half its trunk lopped off.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 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

Its late autumn slump, which has lopped nearly $750 billion in value from the world’s largest cryptocurrency since its Oct.

From Barron's ● Dec. 2, 2025

One thinks immediately of the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, who after having both his arms lopped off declares, “It’s just a flesh wound.”

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

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

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

She took more than a second off her 400m hurdles personal best in 2021, before lopping off another half second with a 54.73-second run in Rome earlier this month.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2022

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

Related Words

• shear