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strop

[ strop ]
/ strÉ’p /
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See synonyms for: strop / stropped / stropping on Thesaurus.com

noun
any of several devices for sharpening razors, especially a strip of leather or other flexible material.
Also strap. Nautical, Machinery.
  1. a rope or a band of metal surrounding and supporting a block, deadeye, etc.
  2. a metal band surrounding the pulley of a block to transmit the load on the pulley to its hook or shackle.
  3. a rope sling, as for handling cargo.
  4. a ring or grommet of rope.
verb (used with object), stropped, strop·ping.
to sharpen on or as if on a strop.
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Origin of strop

before 1050; Middle English (noun), Old English; cognate with Dutch, Low German strop; all probably <Latin stroppus, variant of struppus strap

OTHER WORDS FROM strop

stropper, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use strop in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for strop

strop
/ (strÉ’p) /

noun
a leather strap or an abrasive strip for sharpening razors
a rope or metal band around a block or deadeye for support
mainly British informal a temper tantrumhe threw a strop and stormed off
verb strops, stropping or stropped
(tr) to sharpen (a razor, etc) on a strop

Word Origin for strop

C14 (in nautical use: a strip of rope): via Middle Low German or Middle Dutch strop, ultimately from Latin stroppus, from Greek strophos cord; see strophe
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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