lop

[ lop ]

See synonyms for lop on Thesaurus.com

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.

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 ]

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

abbreviationNavigation.

line of position.

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

How to use lop in a sentence

If an establishment is troublesome to him, he lops off at a stroke just as much of it as he chooses.
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. I. (of 12) | Edmund Burke
Clausius had only to discard them as one lops off dead branches.
The Foundations of Science: Science and Hypothesis, The Value of Science, Science and Method | Henri Poincar
To the bad thought which I find in it, the same soul becomes a discerning, separating sword, and lops it away.
Essays, First Series | Ralph Waldo Emerson
It cuts down all its words to the shortest possible dimensions: a sort of half-Procrustes, which lops but never stretches.
Notes & Queries, No. 50. Saturday, October 12, 1850 | Various
The other posts might be easily culled from tree-lops, destined for fire-wood.
Cottage Economy | William Cobbett

British Dictionary definitions for lop (1 of 3)

lop¹

/ (lɒp) /

verblops, 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

Origin of lop

C15 loppe branches cut off; compare lob 1

Derived forms of lop

lopper, noun

British Dictionary definitions for lop (2 of 3)

lop²

/ (lɒp) /

verblops, lopping or lopped

to hang or allow to hang loosely
(intr) to slouch about or move awkwardly

(intr) a less common word for lope

Origin of 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

Origin of 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

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