Meanings
cropper1
plural croppers
- A fall, a tumble; a decided failure.
You're riding for a fall, Healey, you know that? There are hedges and ditches ahead and you are on course for an almighty cropper.
1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section II, page 201 more example
But to myself I thought: ‘Considering that for eight whole years I sat on the front bench as top of the class while he drifted about somewhere in the middle, he can hardly fail to nourish a wish, left over from his schooldays, that some day or other I may come a complete cropper.’
1900, Sigmund Freud, “The Interpretation of Dreams”, in James Strachey, transl., Avon Books, page: 185
cropper2
cropper3
plural croppers
- A person who nurtures and gathers a crop.
- A variety of plant producing a good harvest.
The mango tree cannot be regarded as a reliable cropper.
1901 July 5, “Coast Fruit”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 9, page 284
cropper4
plural croppers
- A machine for cropping, as for shearing off bolts or rod iron, or for facing cloth.
Cropper5
- An unincorporated community in Shelby County, Kentucky, United States, named after founder James Cropper.
- A hamlet in Osleston and Thurvaston parish, South Derbyshire district, Derbyshire, England (OS grid ref SK2335).
Synonyms & antonyms
nounsmall farmers and tenants
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
cropper · noun
From crop + -er (occupational suffix) or + -er (relational suffix), in reference to agricultural crops.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with cropper
Cite this entry
cropper. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cropper
“cropper.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cropper. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cropper,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cropper.
Source: cropper on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.