hopper
hopper Lexical Profile
hopper Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A funnel-shaped container or bin that narrows toward an opening at the bottom, used for storing bulk materials such as grain, coal, or gravel and dispensing them from underneath.
"The farmer poured the harvested corn into the large metal hopper above the grinder."
A railroad freight car or barge equipped with a hinged or opening floor for discharging bulk cargo such as coal, ore, or grain by gravity.
"A long train of coal hoppers rumbled slowly across the steel trestle bridge."
Any of various leaping insects, such as a grasshopper, leafhopper, planthopper, or froghopper, especially a wingless juvenile nymph of a locust.
"Tiny green hoppers sprang from the tall grass with every step we took through the meadow."
A person or animal that hops or jumps, or someone who moves frequently from one place, job, or activity to another.
"As an enthusiastic island hopper, she visited six different Greek islands in two weeks."
A traditional Sri Lankan and South Indian bowl-shaped pancake made from fermented rice batter and coconut milk, cooked in a small rounded wok.
"For breakfast in Colombo, we ordered crispy egg hoppers served with spicy onion sambol."
• Rhymes for hopper
Word Origin & Etymology
From Middle English hopper, derived from Old English hoppere ('a leaper, dancer'), from hoppian ('to hop') + -ere ('-er'). The sense of a funnel-shaped storage container developed in the 13th century because early mill chutes were agitated with a hopping motion to feed grain evenly onto the millstones.