cooper

coop·er
C3O1O1P3E1R1
/ˈkuːpə(ɹ)/US, dialectal/ˈkʊpɚ/Canada, US/ˈkupɚ/Australia, New Zealand/ˈkʉːpə(ɹ)/

noun

A craftsman who makes and repairs barrels and similar wooden vessels such as casks, buckets and tubs.

Similar
barrel maker
CommonScrabble 10

Meanings

cooper1

nouncooper (countable and uncountable, plural coopers)

plural coopers

  1. countableuncountableA craftsman who makes and repairs barrels and similar wooden vessels such as casks, buckets and tubs.

    They were nearly all whalemen; chief mates, and second mates, and third mates, and sea carpenters, and sea coopers, and sea blacksmiths, and harpooneers, and ship keepers; a brown and brawny company, with bosky beards; an unshorn, shaggy set, all wearing monkey jackets for morning gowns.

    1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 5, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
  2. countableobsoleteuncountableA drink of half stout and half porter.
verbcooper (third-person singular simple present coopers, present participle coopering, simple past and past participle coopered)

present singular third person coopers · participle present coopering · participle past coopered · past coopered

  1. archaicTo make and repair barrels etc.
  2. obsoleteslangtransitiveTo forge or imitate (writing).

    […] though, owing to his forged signatures having been too often detected, he was declared to be "a duffer at coopering a monekur."

    1872, Augustus Mayhew, Paved with Gold, page 269
  3. obsoleteslangtransitiveTo intentionally injure (a racehorse) to spoil its chances of winning.

    Every design that villainy could suggest was had recourse to in the hopes of nobbling Wild Dayrell; but never being left for an hour by either his trainer or jockey, he escaped the intended 'coopering', even when the lynchpins of the wheels of his van had been tampered with.

    1864, Baily's Magazine of Sports & Pastimes, volume 8, page 110

cooper2

nouncooper (plural coopers)

plural coopers

  1. alternativeAlternative form of coper (“floating grog shop”).
verbcooper (third-person singular simple present coopers, present participle coopering, simple past and past participle coopered)

present singular third person coopers · participle present coopering · participle past coopered · past coopered

  1. alternativeAlternative form of coper (“operate as floating grog shop”).

Cooper3

proper nounCooper (countable and uncountable, plural Coopers)

plural Coopers

  1. countableAn English surname originating as an occupation of cooper.

    On the invitation list: Govs. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Tim Walz of Minnesota, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Tony Evers of Wisconsin, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Wes Moore of Maryland and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico.

    2024 February 7, Edward-Isaac Dovere, “Harris set to host Democratic governors this weekend to discuss 2024 campaign”, in CNN, archived from the original on 18 Feb 2024
    1 more example

    The young lady, who made her firſt appearance in Lady Bab Lardoon, at the Haymarket on Monday night laſt, is a Miſs Prideaux, and lineally deſcended from one of the daughters and co-heireſſes of the Right Hon. John Wilmot, the witty Earl of Rocheſter, and conſequently related to the Sandwiches, Pomfrets, Coopers, and many other noble families.

    1788 July 10, “Friday’s Post”, in The Ipswich Journal, number 3026, Ipswich, Suffolk, published 12 July 1788, page [2], column 1
  2. countableA male given name transferred from the surname.
  3. A placename in the United States:
    1. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Greene County, Iowa.
    2. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Wayne County, Kentucky.
    3. countableuncountableA small town in Washington County, Maine.
    4. countableuncountableA neighbourhood in south Minneapolis, Minnesota.
    5. countableuncountableA locality in West Milford township, Passaic County, New Jersey.
    6. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Seneca County, Ohio.
    7. countableuncountableA city, the county seat of Delta County, Texas.
    8. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Houston County, Texas.
    9. countableuncountableA number of townships, listed under Cooper Township.
    10. countableuncountableA settlement on Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands.
    11. abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of Cooper County.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna craftsman who makes or repairs wooden barrels or tubs

Similar
barrel maker
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Bulgarian бъчвар
  • бъчвар (băčvar)craftsman
Catalan boter
  • botercraftsman
Chinese Mandarin 桶工, 桶匠
  • 桶工 (tǒnggōng)craftsman
  • 桶匠 (tǒngjiàng)craftsman
Czech bednář
  • bednářcraftsman
Danish bødker
  • bødkercraftsman
Dutch kuiper
  • kuipercraftsman
Esperanto barelfaristo
  • barelfaristocraftsman
Estonian püttsepp, aamissepp
  • püttseppcraftsman
  • aamisseppcraftsman
Finnish tynnyrintekijä
  • tynnyrintekijäcraftsman
French tonnelier
  • tonneliercraftsman
German Küfer, Böttcher
  • Küfercraftsman
  • Böttchercraftsman
  • Fassbindercraftsman
  • Fassküfercraftsman
  • Fassmachercraftsman
  • Wannenmachercraftsman
  • Schäfflercraftsman
Greek βαρελάς
  • βαρελάς (varelás)craftsman
Hebrew חַבְתָן
  • חַבְתָן (khavtan)craftsman
Hungarian kádár, bodnár
  • kádárcraftsman
  • bodnárcraftsman
  • pintércraftsman
Icelandic beykir
  • beykircraftsman
Irish cúipéir
  • cúipéircraftsman
Italian bottaio
  • bottaiocraftsman
Japanese 桶屋
  • 桶屋 (okeya)craftsman
Korean 통메장이, 통장수
  • 통메장이 (tongmejang'i)craftsman
  • 통장수 (tongjangsu)craftsman
Latin viētor, tunnārius
  • viētorcraftsman
  • tunnāriuscraftsman
Lithuanian kubilius
  • kubiliuscraftsman
Norwegian bøkker
  • bøkkercraftsman
Norwegian Bokmål bøkker
  • bøkkercraftsman
Polish bednarz
  • bednarzcraftsman
Portuguese tanoeiro
  • tanoeirocraftsman
Romanian dogar
  • dogarcraftsman
Russian бо́ндарь, бонда́рь
  • бо́ндарь (bóndarʹ)craftsman
  • бонда́рь (bondárʹ)craftsman
  • боча́р (bočár)craftsman
Slovak debnár
  • debnárcraftsman
Spanish tonelero
  • tonelerocraftsman
Swedish tunnbindare
  • tunnbindarecraftsman
Turkish fıçıcı
  • fıçıcıcraftsman
Ukrainian бо́ндар, бо́днар
  • бо́ндар (bóndar)craftsman
  • бо́днар (bódnar)craftsman

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with cooper

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

cooper. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cooper

MLA

“cooper.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cooper. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cooper,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cooper.

Source: cooper on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.