reaper
Americannoun
-
a person who reaps or a machine for reaping
-
death
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.
Vocabulary lists containing reaper
Human Geography - Middle School
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The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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Human Geography - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The U.S. military said in late September that it had permanently stationed MQ-9 reaper drones in South Korea to support surveillance and reconnaissance operations.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 11, 2025
Eventually they would expand the spice-level offerings from the simple choice of mild or hot to today’s seven options ranging from no spice to reaper.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 15, 2025
He added that authorities were also using reaper drones.
From BBC • Jul. 8, 2025
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
She asked instead for barley-water flavored with mint, the cooling draught of the reaper at harvest time and also the sacred cup given the worshipers at Eleusis.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
