toper

[ toh-per ]

/ ˈtoʊ pər /

a hard drinker or chronic drunkard.

Nearby words

First recorded in 1665–75; tope¹ + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Ben the toper loved his bottle,—Charley only loved the lasses!
Paul Clifford, Complete|Edward Bulwer-Lytton
The toper, if he drank too deep, sometimes found a frog or newt at the bottom (in china)—a hint not to be too greedy.
Nature Near London|Richard Jefferies
But he also fell into the evil ways of gilded youth, soon achieving notoriety as a toper, gambler, and courreur des femmes.
Prophets of Dissent|Otto Heller
By the beginning of his second session he was as able a toper as a publican could wish.
The House with the Green Shutters|George Douglas Brown

A toper several years ago in Brooklyn and New York used to make money by blowing his breath through a wire gauze and lighting it.
The Silent Bullet|Arthur B. Reeve

1670s, from tope!, exclamation used in drinking (1650s), from French or Italian, originally a word of acceptance in a wager, etc. Cf. tope (v.).