reaper

American  

[ree-per] / ˈri pər /

noun

1. a machine for cutting standing grain; reaping machine.

2. a person who reaps.

3. Grim Reaper.

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reaper British  

/ ˈriːpə /

noun

1. a person who reaps or a machine for reaping

2. death

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Etymology

Origin of reaper

before 1000; Middle English reper, Old English ripere. See reap, -er ¹

Explanation

The noun reaper refers to a person who harvests crops. If your part-time job involves harvesting corn by hand, then you're a reaper. Reaper can also refer to a piece of farm equipment used to harvest crops, especially grains. It's not a coincidence that reap looks a lot like the word ripe. When the crops are ripe — in Old English, "ready for reaping, fit for eating" — a reaper, either human or mechanical, can harvest them. Reap means "to cut grain with a hook or sickle." This might remind you of the Grim Reaper, the personification of death in art, movies, and stories, who is shown carrying a sickle and is said to be the harvester of souls.

Example Sentences

Mercifully for Edmonton, they have Leon Draisaitl, their German goal-scoring virtuoso and overtime reaper, who yet again found magic in the sudden-death stanza.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 13, 2025

The paintings depict implausible scenarios: What if the grim reaper slipped on a banana on his way to kill you?

From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2025

Kyogo Furuhashi doesn't need to don the cloak and scythe of the grim reaper when he fetches up at Ibrox on Sunday.

From BBC • Apr. 6, 2024

Ms. Council is making jam with pineapples or cantaloupe instead of peaches, and customers will have to wait until next year for her peach reaper sauce, made with Georgia peaches and Carolina reaper peppers.

From New York Times • Jul. 6, 2023

He stood in the doorway, filling up the space like a broken-down grim reaper.

From "When I Was the Greatest" by Jason Reynolds