stripper

American  

[strip-er] / ˈstrɪp ər /

noun

1. a person who strips.

2. a thing that strips, as an appliance or machine for stripping.

3. Also called ecdysiast, exotic dancer, stripteaser.  a person who performs a striptease.

4. a harvesting machine for stripping the seed heads from the stalks of grain.

5. a machine used in harvesting cotton to strip the bolls from the plants.

6. a chemical solution that removes varnish, paint, wax, etc., from a surface, as of furniture or flooring.

7. any of several rollers covered with card clothing that operate in combination with the worker rollers and the cylinder in the carding of fibers.

8. Printing. a worker who assembles and strips photographic negatives or positives for platemaking.

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stripper British  

/ ˈstrɪpə /

noun

1. a striptease artist

2. a person or thing that strips

3. a device or substance for removing paint, varnish, etc

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Other Word Forms

• self-stripper noun

Etymology

Origin of stripper

First recorded in 1575–85; strip ¹ + -er ¹

Example Sentences

“If the news had called Cindy a mother instead of a stripper, then people and maybe even the police would be more concerned,” she told the paper.

From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026

Mr Yuen was given the door panel for free from a paint stripper yard in Cardiff, where it faced being binned.

From BBC • Jan. 11, 2025

Sean Baker’s “Anora,” a melancholy comedy of self-discovery about a stripper in Brighton Beach, earned six nominations, including feature, director and lead performance.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2024

To deal with any tenacious paint, use a liquid paint stripper, like CitriStrip.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 3, 2024

A Swiss Army knife with 13 attachments including a wire stripper and a saw and a toothpick and tweezers 2.

From "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon