lop

[ lop ]

/ lɒp /

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verb (used with object), lopped, lop·ping.

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

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

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

to eliminate as unnecessary or excessive: We had to lop off whole pages of the report before presenting it to the committee.

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

verb (used without object), lopped, lop·ping.

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

to remove parts by or as by cutting.

noun

parts or a part lopped off.

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

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Origin of lop

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 lop², lobster

Other definitions for lop (2 of 3)

lop²

[ lop ]

/ lɒp /

verb (used without object), lopped, lop·ping.

to hang loosely or limply; droop.

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

to move in short, quick leaps: a rabbit lopping through the garden.

verb (used with object), lopped, lop·ping.

to let hang or droop: He lopped his arms at his sides in utter exhaustion.

adjective

hanging down limply or droopingly: lop ears.

Origin of lop

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 lop¹, lob¹

Other definitions for lop (3 of 3)

LOP

abbreviation Navigation.

line of position.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lop in a sentence

My list of essential tools would include at least a pair of work gloves, hand pruners, lopping shears and a pruning saw.
It’s tree-pruning season. Here’s how to do it without resorting to ‘crape murder.’|Adrian Higgins|January 27, 2021|Washington Post
Then we let it wind along by the brook, lopping off dead branches which were in the way, and removing one or two small trees.
The Idyl of Twin Fires|Walter Prichard Eaton
"And then you do not love me," this in a low, far-away voice, lopping each word off as though with an axe.
John Ermine of the Yellowstone|Frederic Remington
He wears a very new-fashioned cap like a stiff sugar-bag, with the top lopping over.
English Costume|Dion Clayton Calthrop

He would think that the lopping of the grass was an attack on private property.
Orthodoxy|G. K. Chesterton
And they went, holding in their hands wood-lopping axes and well-twisted ropes; and before them went the mules.
The Iliad of Homer (1873)|Homer

British Dictionary definitions for lop (1 of 3)

lop¹

/ (lɒp) /

verb lops, lopping or lopped (tr usually foll by off)

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

to cut out or eliminate from as excessive

noun

a part or parts lopped off, as from a tree

Derived forms of lop

lopper, noun

Word Origin for lop

C15 loppe branches cut off; compare lob 1

British Dictionary definitions for lop (2 of 3)

lop²

/ (lɒp) /

verb lops, lopping or lopped

to hang or allow to hang loosely

(intr) to slouch about or move awkwardly

(intr) a less common word for lope

Word Origin for lop

C16: perhaps related to lop 1; compare lob 1

British Dictionary definitions for lop (3 of 3)

lop³

/ (lɒp) /

noun

Northern English dialect a flea

Word Origin for lop

probably from Old Norse hloppa (unattested) flea, from hlaupa to leap

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

lop

Origin of lop

Other definitions for lop (2 of 3)

Origin of lop

Other definitions for lop (3 of 3)

Words related to lop

How to use lop in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for lop (1 of 3)

Derived forms of lop

Word Origin for lop

British Dictionary definitions for lop (2 of 3)

Word Origin for lop

British Dictionary definitions for lop (3 of 3)

Word Origin for lop