as in defeat
a falling short of one's goals
more than a few people were glad to see the obnoxiously smug skater come a cropper at the national championships
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cropper
The family-friend label came a cropper after it was slapped with a multi-million-dollar copyright lawsuit by Disney, Warner Bros. and other major Hollywood studios for making unauthorized cuts – of scenes deemed unsuitable for family viewing by the brothers – to their movies and series.
—
Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 3 June 2025
In January, 1813, at York Castle, fourteen croppers stood trial for rioting and machine breaking, which Parliament had deemed a capital offense in the new Frame-Breaking Act.
—John Cassidy, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025
Zelensky came a cropper when trying the same thing — but his stock soared back home at a time when Trump seems to be trying to oust him.
—Stephen Collinson, CNN, 15 Mar. 2025
DeSantis' landslide will likely turn out to be the historically most important result from last Tuesday, akin to but with even greater consequences than George W. Bush's victory in Texas in 1998, another midterm year in which the GOP otherwise came a cropper.
—Bradley Gitz, Arkansas Online, 28 Nov. 2022
But on closer inspection, there are differences: This cropper is shirtless, his backside a bit too pert, and the stalks of asparagus growing from the ground are, in fact, penises.
—Max Norman David Chow Victoria Petro-Conroy, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2022
Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 3 June 2025
In January, 1813, at York Castle, fourteen croppers stood trial for rioting and machine breaking, which Parliament had deemed a capital offense in the new Frame-Breaking Act.
—John Cassidy, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025
Zelensky came a cropper when trying the same thing — but his stock soared back home at a time when Trump seems to be trying to oust him.
—Stephen Collinson, CNN, 15 Mar. 2025
DeSantis' landslide will likely turn out to be the historically most important result from last Tuesday, akin to but with even greater consequences than George W. Bush's victory in Texas in 1998, another midterm year in which the GOP otherwise came a cropper.
—Bradley Gitz, Arkansas Online, 28 Nov. 2022
But on closer inspection, there are differences: This cropper is shirtless, his backside a bit too pert, and the stalks of asparagus growing from the ground are, in fact, penises.
—Max Norman David Chow Victoria Petro-Conroy, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cropper
Noun
-
A day later, Fenerbahce dismissed Jose Mourinho, in part due to the defeat to Benfica in the Champions League play-offs.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
5 Sep. 2025
-
With Fritz's defeat, there are no American men left in the tournament.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In May 2018, one of the funicular’s cars derailed due to a serious maintenance failure of its wheels, although the car did not overturn and no one was injured, according to Público, a Portuguese daily national newspaper.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
4 Sep. 2025
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An incident report submitted to the state by Energy Transfer attributed the pipeline failure to a technician’s errors.—
ProPublica,
ProPublica,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Was the specter of Cracker Barrel’s collapse and bankruptcy a mere fancy?—
Graham Hillard,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
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Ultimately, at over 100 kilonewtons of force, the structure groaned under the force before one of the beams finally gave away in an intentional collapse that provided critical data for the study.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Emergency services deployed 62 rescuers and 22 support vehicles to the crash, according to local media.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Authorities have not yet given an official cause for the crash and police are still investigating at the scene.—
Hannah Parry,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cropper.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cropper. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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