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cropper

 - 3 dictionary results

crop⋅per

[krop-er]
–noun
1. a person or thing that crops.
2. a person who raises a crop.
3. a person who cultivates land for its owner in return for part of the crop; sharecropper.
4. a plant that furnishes a crop.
5. a cloth-shearing machine.
6. come a cropper, Informal.
a. to fail; be struck by some misfortune: His big deal came a cropper.
b. to fall headlong, esp. from a horse.

Origin:
1475–85; crop + -er 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To cropper
crop·per 1   (krŏp'ər)   
n.  A person who works land in return for a share of the yield; a sharecropper.
crop·per 2   (krŏp'ər)   
n.  
  1. A heavy fall; a tumble.

  2. A disastrous failure; a fiasco.


[Perhaps from the phrase neck and crop, completely.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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