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.
He wasn’t a man to sit idly in death’s anteroom, awaiting the grim reaper.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026
He added that authorities were also using reaper drones.
From BBC • Jul. 8, 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
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
The last person I need to see right now is a know-it-all grim reaper.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
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.
