: material cut away from a tree
especially
: parts discarded in lumbering
lopped; lopping
1
a(1)
: to cut off branches or twigs from
(2)
: to sever from a woody plant
b(1)
archaic
: to cut off the head or limbs of
(2)
: to cut from a person
2
a
: to remove superfluous parts from
b
: to eliminate as unnecessary or undesirable
—usually used with off
Examples of lop in a Sentence
Verb (1)
the hair stylist started by lopping off several inches from her long tresses, before beginning to shape what was left
Recent Examples on the Web
Luke Smith, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2025
Its performance, though flavored more along the lines of nutmeg than tabasco, whips up enthusiasm and lops off miles.
—Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 15 June 2023
Griff Griffin, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
There is a sense that if the jobs historically went to Democrats with a demographic that mimics the makeup of our country, the chainsaw lopped that department.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 7 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lop
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Noun
Unsurprisingly, Red Bull has the most lop-sided intra-team battle in F1 this season so far.
—Luke Smith, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2025
Its performance, though flavored more along the lines of nutmeg than tabasco, whips up enthusiasm and lops off miles.
—Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 15 June 2023
Verb
Blades lop off body parts, while blunt force trauma breaks bones and bashes indentations in soft flesh.
—Griff Griffin, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
There is a sense that if the jobs historically went to Democrats with a demographic that mimics the makeup of our country, the chainsaw lopped that department.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 7 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lop
Cite this Entry
“Lop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lop. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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