popple

¹ American  

[pop-uhl] / ˈpɒp əl /

verb (used without object)

poppled, poppling

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

---

noun

1. a poppling motion.

popple ² American  

[pop-uhl] / ˈpɒp əl /

noun

Northern U.S.

1. a poplar of the genus Populus.

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of popple¹

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

Origin of popple²

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

Example Sentences

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

This ecological wonder, the braggart would assure other wood burners waiting their turn to boast, would oxidize for 18 hours on a couple of pieces of wet popple.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

The old popple tree had thrown off its tinkling cymbals and now the winter wind hissed and whistled in its stark branches.

From The Light in the Clearing by Bacheller, Irving