hopper

One who or that which hops.

Noun

  1. One who or that which hops.
  2. A temporary storage bin, filled from the top and emptied from the bottom, often funnel-shaped.

    Synonyms: feedbin

  3. A funnel-shaped section at the top of a drainpipe used to collect water, from above, from one or more smaller drainpipes.
  4. A bin or device that feeds material into a machine.

    Synonyms: feeder feedbin

  5. Any of various insects known for hopping, especially a grasshopper or locust, the immature form of a locust, or the larva of various flies and beetles.
    • I went over and found the mealies and ground covered with large hoppers, about two weeks old. - 1901, J. H. Stansell, “Locust Destruction”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, page 21:
    • “And the next year the hoppers came. The sky was so dark with them we had to light the lamps at midday.” - 1975, Larry Woiwode, Beyond the Bedroom Wall, page 27:
  6. An artificial fishing lure.
    • To catch a big fish, use a hopper that jumps across the pond surface.
  7. A toilet.
    • The fresh-water container for the house was above the ceiling directly over the toilet. One day, I was comfortably seated on the hopper minding my own business, when a large portion of the ceiling came crashing down […]...
  8. An escapement lever in a piano.
  9. The game of hopscotch.
  10. A window with hinges at the bottom, opened by tilting vertically.
  11. A hopper car.
  12. A fairy chess piece which moves only by jumping over another piece.
    • The Leo, Pao (or Cannon, a piece from Chinese chess) and Vao (Z.Mach FCR 1940) are hybrid hoppers that move like a queen, rook or bishop and capture along these lines like a lion. - 2010 August 21, G. P. Jelliss,...

Origin

From Middle English hoppere, alteration of *hoppe (found in grashoppe (“grasshopper”)), from Old English *hoppa (“one who hops, hopper”), equivalent to hop + -er. Cognate with Dutch hopper (“hopper”), Swedish hoppare (“hopper, jumper”), Icelandic hoppari (“hopper”).

Forms

hoppers

Derived

ash-hopper barhopper bed-hopper bellhopper bell hopper bunny hopper clodhopper club-hopper Etho hopper clock fence hopper flaghopper freighthopper freight hopper froghopper froth-hopper grasshopper groundhopper hedgehopper hip-hopper hopper boy hopper car hopper crystal hopper wagon in the hopper

Noun Entry 2

  1. A Sri Lankan pancake made from a fermented batter of rice flour, coconut milk, and palm toddy or yeast.
    • Hoppers come in different varieties and can be sweet or savoury, while an egg hopper has an egg in the middle added during cooking. - 2010, Channa Dassanayaka, Sri Lankan Flavours, page 20:

Origin

From Sinhalese ආප්ප (āppa), from Tamil ஆப்பம் (āppam). Doublet of appam.

Forms

hoppers