lopping
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Related to lopping: loping, lopping shears
lop 1
(lŏp)tr.v. lopped, lop·ping, lops
1. To cut off (a part), especially from a tree or shrub: lopped off the dead branches.
2. To cut off a part or parts from; trim: lopped the vines back; lopped her curls shorter.
3. To eliminate or excise as superfluous: lopped him from the payroll.
[Perhaps from Middle English loppe, small branches and twigs.]
lop′per n.
lop 2
(lŏp)intr. & tr.v. lopped, lop·ping, lops
To hang or let hang loosely; droop.
[Origin unknown.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.