lop

¹ American  

[lop] / lɒp /

verb (used with object)

lopped, lopping

1. to cut off (branches, twigs, etc.) from a tree or other plant.

2. to cut off (a limb, part, or the like) from a person, animal, etc.

3. to cut off the branches, twigs, etc., of (a tree or other plant).

4. to eliminate as unnecessary or excessive.

   We had to lop off whole pages of the report before presenting it to the committee.

5. Archaic. to cut off the head, limbs, etc., of (a person).

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verb (used without object)

lopped, lopping

1. to cut off branches, twigs, etc., as of a tree.

2. to remove parts by or as by cutting.

noun

1. parts or a part lopped off.

2. (of trees) the smaller branches and twigs not useful as timber.

lop ² American  

[lop] / lɒp /

verb (used without object)

lopped, lopping

1. to hang loosely or limply; droop.

2. to sway, move, or go in a drooping or heavy, awkward way.

3. to move in short, quick leaps.

   a rabbit lopping through the garden.

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verb (used with object)

lopped, lopping

1. to let hang or droop.

   He lopped his arms at his sides in utter exhaustion.

adjective

1. hanging down limply or droopingly.

   lop ears.

LOP ³ American  

abbreviation

Navigation.

1. line of position.

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lop ¹ British  

/ lɒp /

verb

1. to sever (parts) from a tree, body, etc, esp with swift strokes

2. to cut out or eliminate from as excessive

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noun

1. a part or parts lopped off, as from a tree

lop ² British  

/ lɒp /

verb

1. to hang or allow to hang loosely

2. (intr) to slouch about or move awkwardly

3. (intr) a less common word for lope

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lop ³ British  

/ lɒp /

noun

1. dialect a flea

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Other Word Forms

• lopper noun

Etymology

Origin of lop¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; late Middle English loppe “cut off twigs or branches”; further origin uncertain; perhaps akin to Old English loppe “spider”; see lop ², lobster

Origin of lop²

First recorded in 1570–80; verb use of obsolete noun lop “spider” or lop “drooping part of a tree,” that is, “to behave like a lop, to dangle, hang loosely”; see lop ¹, lob ¹

Explanation

To lop is to cut a chunk of something off. You could lop off your long hair, or lop off the top of a Christmas tree to make it fit in your living room. You can physically lop things, like when you lop the brown branches off of your ailing rose bush or lop off the bottoms of your jeans to make shorts. There is a figurative way to lop too, as when an editor decides to lop the ending off a story. Or, if you choose to drive to work instead of riding your bike, you can lop an hour off the time it takes to get there.

Example Sentences

The AI did, however, lop off part of my hair.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025

The bonus deduction is written to lop $6,000 or $12,000 from a household’s yearly taxable income.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 22, 2025

The council granted a license for the work with specific instructions to "lop the trees, as opposed to felling them" and stated that the work should be completed outside the bird nesting season.

From BBC • Dec. 7, 2023

State lotteries typically lop off 24% of winnings for federal taxes, and the bill can run even higher because the top federal income tax rate is 37%.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 7, 2023

“First you gotta go in and lop off the branches. Then you chop down the trunk.”

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

Related Words

• shear