popper

¹ American  

[pop-er] / ˈpɒp ər /

noun

1. a person or thing that pops.

2. a utensil, as a covered pan, used for popping corn.

3. Angling. chugger.

4. a vial of amyl or butyl nitrite abused as a vasodilator for the effect of exhilaration.

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Popper ² American  

[pop-er] / ˈpɒp ər /

noun

1. Sir Karl (Raimund) 1902–1994, British philosopher, born in Austria.

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popper ¹ British  

/ ˈpɒpə /

noun

1. a person or thing that pops

2. an informal name for press stud

3. a container for cooking popcorn in

4. slang an amyl nitrite capsule, which is crushed and its contents inhaled by drug users as a stimulant

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Popper ² British  

/ ˈpɒpə, pɒˈpɪərɪən /

noun

1. Sir Karl. 1902–94, British philosopher, born in Vienna. In The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1934), he proposes that knowledge cannot be absolutely confirmed, but rather that science progresses by the experimental refutation of the current theory and its consequent replacement by a new theory, equally provisional but covering more of the known data. The Open Society and its Enemies (1945) is a critique of dogmatic political philosophies, such as Marxism. Other works are The Poverty of Historicism (1957), Conjectures and Refutations (1963), and Objective Knowledge (1972)

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Other Word Forms

• Popperian noun

Etymology

Origin of popper

1740–50; pop ¹ + -er ¹; compare Middle English poppere a small dagger

Example Sentences

Leilani played with a rainbow-colored popper toy while a frustrated Ruiz sought answers from county officials about when they would be allowed back into their homes.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2023

The team rigged up a 5.25-foot-long bullwhip with motion capture markers and removed the whip’s popper, the part responsible for its loud noise, and also tagged participants’ bodies with markers.

From New York Times • Oct. 4, 2022

Lots of jalapeño popper recipes include more than one cheese, usually cream cheese and cheddar, and even Parmesan has been known to weasel its way into the mix.

From Salon • May 5, 2022

It’s clumsy, like a claw machine at an arcade, and the gripper’s rubber cups can’t press the popper that rolls the dice.

From Science Magazine • Feb. 9, 2022

The big automatic popcorn popper was near the door.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers