popple

¹ American  

[pop-uhl] / ˈpɒp əl /

verb (used without object)

poppled, poppling

1. to move in a tumbling, irregular manner, as boiling water.

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noun

1. a poppling motion.

popple ² American  

[pop-uhl] / ˈpɒp əl /

noun

Northern U.S.

1. a poplar of the genus Populus.

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popple British  

/ ˈpɒpəl /

verb

1. (of boiling water or a choppy sea) to heave or toss; bubble

2. (often foll by along) (of a stream or river) to move with an irregular tumbling motion

   the small rivulet poppled along over rocks and stones for half a mile

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Etymology

Origin of popple¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English poplen; imitative; see -le

Origin of popple²

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English popul, from Latin pōpulus

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

popple poppled poppling

All the sounds were of water: the tick-tack of melting snow hitting tin roofs, the popple of gravity-fed pipes pouring mountain water into troughs.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 14, 2022

The speaker, newly emigrated to New Hampshire from the burbs of Westchester County, N.Y., was always careful to pronounce poplar "popple" to distinguish himself from flatlanders.

From Time Magazine Archive

There is no sound but the popple of water against the bow and a deeper gurgle under the bilge; the boat slides forward with a motion which is not like any other .

From Time Magazine Archive

President Kennedy's passing away is a terrible tragedy for the world, and our popple in India share with deep sorrow the grief and general feeling all over the world, especially in the U.S.

From Time Magazine Archive

We went to bed early and I lay long hearing the autumn wind in the popple leaves and thinking of that great thing which had grown strong within us, little by little, in the candle-light.

From The Light in the Clearing by Bacheller, Irving

The ball lost its momentum, poppled across the ridges, and leaped to rest.

From Jonah and Co. by Yates, Dornford

That night I watched the poppling brew, With bended back and hand on knee: I stirred it till the dawnlight grew, And the wind whiffled wailfully.

From Time's Laughingstocks and Other Verses by Hardy, Thomas

No less than that I bare this poppling plot To the French ruler and our fiercest foe!—

From The Dynasts by Hardy, Thomas

Without the wood a sudden shower was falling down from heaven, drenching anew wet pastures, thinning the mud upon brown lanes, poppling upon the washed highway.

From Anthony Lyveden by Yates, Dornford