rippern.
/ˈrɪpə/, U.S. /ˈrɪpər/ 1.
a. A person who rips something. Chiefly in specialist and technical uses: one who work involves ripping, sawing, clearing away, etc. (see rip v.1 I.).bodice-ripper: see the first element.
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the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > tearing or tearing apart > [noun] > one who or that which tears
rentera1540
render?1575
ripper1611
tearer1633
abscissor1647
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > worker performing process or spec. task > [noun] > workers performing other tasks or processes
river?c1475
melter1511
sinker1526
folder up1552
wiper1552
scourer1574
heaver1587
stoverc1600
rasper1611
ripper1611
roller1616
smearer1632
waterleadera1650
scooper1668
smiter1670
puncher1681
staker1688
crusher1794
hardener1796
reamer1822
piledriver1826
catcher1832
waterproofer1837
middler1847
culler1850
hanger-on1858
pitcher1865
bumper1871
fine liner1871
bricksetter1883
waxer1890
bottle-oh1898
edger1909
bottle-o-er1915
caster1921
recycler1970
linesperson1973
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Descouseur, a ripper, vnsower; vndooer of.
1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 133 Then the Rippers take them and draw them into wire through two or three holes.
1731 ‘A. Scriblerus’ Gorgoneicon 117 Your Sharpers, Biters, and Rippers, and Tearers, and Manglers of our pretty English Damsels Plackets.
1833 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal II. 332 Where the rippers, as the workmen are called, care little about modern improvements.
1852 J. C. Brown tr. T. Arbousset & F. Daumas Narr. Explor. 127 A number of rippers at once cast off their garments, and began by cutting off the head of the animal.
1892 Daily News 8 Mar. 6/1 The ‘ripper’ clears off the roof to a height sufficient for the passage of the horses with their loaded ‘corves’.
1896 Wellington (Somerset) Weekly News 29 Apr. Wanted at once: good rippers for coppice.
1909 Daily Chron. 20 Aug. 1/1 The theory most generally entertained is that the canister..was left in a coal train in the mine by a ripper or repairer.
1959 Washington Post 2 Oct. b8 In Washington now..the most active safecrackers are ‘peelers’ and ‘rippers’ who literally tear the safe apart.
1967 Gloss. Mining Terms (B.S.I.) viii. 22 Ripper, a man who rips.
1979 B. Hines Price of Coal 31 Sid and the other rippers stayed on the paddy until it reached the end of the track.
1997 A. R. Ammons Glare 4 We are rippers and tearers and proceeders: restraint stalls us still.
b. colloquial. A murderer who rips and mutilates the bodies of his or her victims; frequently (with the and capital initial) in the popular names of such criminals, as Jack the Ripper (Jack n.2 Phrases 3). Occasionally in extended use. See also Ripperologist n., Ripperology n.
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the world > life > death > killing > man-killer or homicide > [noun] > murderer or assassin > types of
assassin1340
Old Man of the Mountain1579
fedai1723
thug1810
nasty man1863
Jack the Ripper1888
ripper1909
trunk murderer1925
sex killer1935
mass-murderer1943
serial murderer1947
psycho-killer1949
serial killer1967
spree killer1983
1888 Aberdeen Weekly Jrnl. 2 Oct. 5/4 Thanks for keeping last letter back till I got to work again—Jack, the Ripper.
1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. Victorian Era 209/2 Ripper, daring murderer of women.
1935 Amer. Speech 10 20/1 Ripper. 1. A degenerate who molests, rapes, or mutilates women in parks or other secluded spots; probably from Jack the Ripper. 2. A shrewd or lucky fellow who ‘gets away with murder’.
1974 A. Douglas Noah's Ark Murders iv. 40 The series of Ripper-like murders that had all but ended his own life.
1979 Guardian 1 June 4/1 The ‘Yorkshire Ripper’..has murdered 11 women in less than four years.
1981 Yorks. Post 8 July 7/1 I don't want people to cash in on what the Ripper did to my daughter.
2001 N.Y. Times 14 Oct. ii. 28/4 To many historians, the period represented a culmination of the strife between the haves and the have-nots of London, and the Ripper was no aberration.
2.
a. Something that rips or creates a rip; a tool or apparatus intended for ripping; esp.: †(a) a tool used by a fletcher to shape the shaft of an arrow (obsolete); (b) a tool used in removing old slates; (c) a ripsaw (see half-ripper n. at half adj. Compounds 2); (d) Criminals' slang a tool for opening safes, etc.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > other types of cutting equipment > [noun] > ripper
ripper1659
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > other types of cutting equipment > [noun] > others
ripper1659
Mohock1721
pinking iron1761
stock knife1799
sapper1822
ice plough1830
race knife1832
dresser1860
race-tool1867
pen-maker1875
stone-cutter1875
twinning-machine1875
nail cutter1876
paper cutter1880
guillotine1883
miller1890
flaker1891
undercutter1891
race1904
lino-cutter1907
gang mower1917
go-devil1918
rotary cutter1936
stripping-bill1968
fragmentizer1972
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > saw > [noun] > for cutting wood > ripping
ripper1659
ripping saw1799
ripsaw1799
rip1986
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > [noun] > slating equipment
ripper1823
slate-knife1825
slate-axe1828
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > burglary > [noun] > instruments used by burglars > for opening safes
ripper1889
can-opener1910
1659 J. Howell Particular Vocab. §li, in Lex. Tetraglotton (1660) A thwitting knife, nocksaws a rasp, a riper, a share..les outils de l'archer.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. viii. 351/1 A kind of a small half round Plain, of which the Fletchers have two sorts; the first is termed a Ripper.
1793 J. O'Keeffe London Hermit ii. iv. 55 I'll quicken him..with a touch of the rippers... (Pranks spurs him.)
1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 400 The ripper is formed of iron..with a very thin blade... This tool is used for lifting up and removing the nails out of old slating.
1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. ii. iii. 565 The half ripper is used also for dividing wood in the direction of the fibres.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1945/2 Ripper, a tool for ripping seams of garments.
1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 43/2 The first process in the preparation of the cloth cases is cutting the millboard. This is now effected by a rotary cutting-machine or ‘ripper’.
1889 J. S. Farmer Americanisms 460/1 Ripper or Mason Ripper, (1) a new and ingenious implement of burglary, used in opening safes or vaults with iron surfaces.
1925 Flynn's 14 Mar. 281/1 Ripper, a can-opener (a burglar's tool).
1963 R. I. McDavid & D. W. Maurer Mencken's Amer. Lang. (new ed.) 717 The use of stew is declining, modern heavy gees preferring to use a stick, ripper or can opener on laminated safes.
1991 Constr. News 26 Sept. 19/1 The company produces a full range of crushers, rippers, grabs and shears.
2007 Daily Tel. 6 Apr. 26/4 With the aid of a Reader's Digest idiot-proof guide to domestic repairs and an expensively purchased slate ripper, he set about the task with gusto.
b. An implement attached to a tractor to break up concrete or hard soil.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > earth-moving and excavating equipment > [noun] > other equipment
snow-plough1792
road roller1820
horse-block1825
sludger1839
horsing-block1856
channeller1867
grader1869
push plough1890
snowblade1947
ripper1953
mouldboard1956
groomer1966
1953 Pop. Mech. Dec. 102/2 Water..is pumped through ducts in rippers attached to bulldozer blades.
1955 ‘N. Shute’ Requiem for Wren i. 20 This war [against the rabbits] went on continuously with tractor-drawn rippers to destroy the warrens.
1963 L. H. Oglesby & R. G. Hewes Highway Engin. (ed. 2) xiv. 476 In recent years large rippers mounted on huge crawler tractors..have been used successfully to break up loose or fractured rock.
1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 2 July 11- c/8 (advt.) Power Tilt Straight dozer with Ateco swinging swank ripper.
2000 Land (N. Richmond, New S. Wales) 1 June (Trader section) 1/6 (advt.) Bulldozer Fiat, 75hp, bullblade and rippers.
3. slang.† b. A person who pursues a reckless course. Obsolete.
a. A person or thing that is particularly good of its kind; spec. an attractive young woman.Frequently Australian in modern use. Cf. ripper adj.
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the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > excellent person or thing
carbunclea1350
swanc1386
phoenixc1400
diamondc1440
broocha1464
surmounterc1500
sovereign?a1513
primrose peerless1523
superlative1577
transcendent1593
Arabian birda1616
crack1637
first rate1681
peach1710
phoenicle1711
admiration1717
spanker1751
first-raterc1760
no slouch of1767
nailer1806
tip-topper1822
ripper1825
ripstaver1828
apotheosis1832
clinker1836
clipper1836
bird1839
keener1839
ripsnorter1840
beater1845
firecracker1845
pumpkin1845
screamer1846
stunner1847
bottler1855
beaut1866
bobby-dazzler1866
one out of the box1867
stem-winder1875
corker1877
trimmer1878
hot stuff1884
daisy1886
jim-dandy1887
cracker1891
jim-hickey1895
peacherino1896
pippin1897
alpha plus1898
peacherine1900
pip1900
humdinger1905
bosker1906
hummer1907
good egg1914
superstar1914
the berries1918
bee's knee1923
the cat's whiskers1923
smash1923
smash hit1923
brahma1925
dilly1935
piss-cutter1935
killer1937
killer-diller1938
a hard act to follow1942
peacheroo1942
bitch1946
brammerc1950
hot shit1960
Tiffany1973
bollocks1981
1825 London Mag. June 173 You have a ripper of a city to see.
1838 Bell's Life in London 26 Aug. 4/1 One of Mr. Mynn's best balls, technically a ‘ripper’, took the top of the middle stump.
1846 ‘Lord Chief Baron’ Swell's Night Guide (new ed.) 40 In conjunction with the above is Miss Emma Watling, a regular ripper.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 301/2 Sarah was a cock, sir, and a ripper.
1859 J. Lang Wanderings in India 144 ‘But, he is a ripper, nevertheless,’ said the Lieutenant, touching the animal very gently with the whip.
1892 A. K. H. Boyd Twenty-five Years St. Andrews I. ii. 28 When a graduate stated that ‘every lecture was a ripper’, I understood he meant very high praise indeed.
1905 Pall Mall Mag. July 111/1 He had found her a ripper as to looks.
1916 ‘B. Cable’ Action Front 149 Wally had shown him her photograph once, ‘and a real ripper she is too’.
1935 W. H. Auden & C. Isherwood Dog beneath Skin i. ii. 37 What do you think of her? Isn't she a ripper?
1951 E. Lambert Twenty Thousand Thieves x. 182. ‘Good letter, Chips?’ A gurgle. ‘It's a ripper!’
1970 Sunday Truth (Brisbane) 10 May 64 If I'm ever asked what Australia is like, I'll say, ‘She's a bloody ripper, mate!’
2005 GQ Sept. 154/3 He's been a fantastic ambassador for England. He seems a ripper.
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the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > incautiousness > [noun] > rashness or recklessness > rash or reckless person
bayard1393
hotspur1403
hare-brain1542
young blood1557
hare-copa1566
madcap1589
rashling1594
breakneck1598
harum-scarum1784
wild cat1812
devil-may-care1839
firecracker1852
ripper1877
wild-catter1883
1877 Temple Bar May 109 If the ripper rips for the benefit of his party,..the turning out by no means follows.
4. U.S. Politics. A piece of legislation that abolishes or strips the power from another political body, an agency, etc., esp. that of a political opponent. More fully ripper bill.
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society > law > types of laws > [noun] > legal or administrative
Ragmanc1400
Statute of Sewers1571
Poynings' Act1613
Poynings' Law1622
Statute of Limitations1641
Act (or Bill) of Indemnity1647
new tables1664
Habeas Corpus Act1705
Judicature Act1782
continuance act1863
stay-law1880
ripper1885
reception statute1931
thirty-year rule1966
sunshine law1968
1885 Chicago Tribune 9 Oct. o1/7 The speaker promised to speak in full of the Cincinnati ‘Ripper’ in his Saturday night speech in that city. He then recognized the provisions of the bill to reorganize the City of Columbus.
1895 Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch 1 Apr. 4/2 The Merryman ripper bill looks very much as if the Republicans of this city were going to the legislature for offices.
1937 J. R. Schultz in Amer. Speech 12 319 The word ‘ripper’ is commonly used in Pennsylvania political parlance to describe a bill that abolishes an office or commission of state or city. Such an act is said usually to have as its purpose the elimination of an officer or member of a commission who is unfriendly to the party in power.
1973 Washington Post 27 Mar. c2/2 King called the legislation ‘a ripper bill’, charging that it was designed to punish some incumbent board members.
2004 T. Messer-Kruse Banksters, Bosses, & Smart Money ii. 41 Governer Davis's ‘Ripper Bill’ solved one immediate problem: it allowed him to dump out the Democratic holdovers from the previous administration.
5. Scottish. A kind of illegal fishing tackle comprising a line with a heavy metal bar attached to it fitted with hooks.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > [noun] > kind of
prick-tackle1463
ledger-tackle1653
fly-tackle1834
otter1834
bait-tackle1835
paternoster tackle1852
spinning-tackle1856
otter-line1862
traveller1864
skate1882
sea-ledger1887
otter1898
otter-board1901
ripper1925
salmon tackle-
1925 Glasgow Herald 17 Aug. 7 He..caught a 20 lb. ling with a ripper.
1946 Press & Jrnl. (Aberdeen) 2 July The primitive method of fishing with dandy lines, consisting of ripper and hooks.
1999 J. Miller Salt in Blood 59 The ripper was a form of line fishing that used a shining lure, cast from lead, with embedded hooks instead of bait.
6. Computing. A piece of software for copying data such as audio files from a CD, DVD, or other optical medium, or from the web.
ΚΠ
1989 Re: DAT Copy Protection in rec.audio (Usenet newsgroup) 15 Sept. Once that is done, blast a ROM add a little RAM, plop on a crystal stick them in a black box with a 56001 and end up with a relatively inexpensive copy-bit ripper.
1997 Electronic Engin. Times 21 July 1/4 MP3 players, encoders and ‘rippers’—programs for snatching a digital audio stream from a PC-based CD audio player—are readily available.
2002 Computer Music Jan. 56/3 If you want to copy from sample CDs, the best method is to use a ripper, which will record the data digitally rather than via the analogue output.
Compounds
General attributive and appositive (in sense 2), as ripper blade, ripper saw, etc.
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1877 G. D. Clark U.S. Patent 191,569 1/1 My invention consists of the ripper-blade, composed of two straight parallel guides, set closely together, and having a knife with two converging edges.
1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 4 Apr. 6/3 A huge steel saw that will cut through a nickel-steel armour plate just as easily as an ordinary ripper saw will go through a pine board.
1919 Amer. Law Reports Annotated III. 1037/2 It has been held that there is no presumption that a minor seventeen years of age, acting as off-bearer for a ripper saw lacks either the experience or the intelligence.
1947 E. W. Bennison Ground Water 229 Two men working at the hopper grab the cement bags from the stock pile or feed table slide them over the ripper blade which cuts the bottom of the bags.
1966 Jrnl. Range Managem. 19 187/2 All machines designed at present have seeding devices mounted in front of the ripper blade.
1979 Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. (Advt. section) 9/2 Teeth for backhoes, loaders, ripper points, corner bits, cutting edges for all makes.
1998 Rock Products July 52 The dozer operator used an 18-in. ripper blade to plow the stockpile.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
ripperadj.
/ˈrɪpə/, U.S. /ˈrɪpər/, Australian English /ˈrɪpə/ Australian colloquial.
Excellent, fantastic.
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the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [adjective]
faireOE
bremea1000
goodlyOE
goodfulc1275
noblec1300
pricec1300
specialc1325
gentlec1330
fine?c1335
singulara1340
thrivena1350
thriven and throa1350
gaya1375
properc1380
before-passinga1382
daintiful1393
principala1398
gradelya1400
burlyc1400
daintyc1400
thrivingc1400
voundec1400
virtuousc1425
hathelc1440
curiousc1475
singlerc1500
beautiful1502
rare?a1534
gallant1539
eximious1547
jolly1548
egregious?c1550
jellyc1560
goodlike1562
brawc1565
of worth1576
brave?1577
surprising1580
finger-licking1584
admirablea1586
excellinga1586
ambrosial1598
sublimated1603
excellent1604
valiant1604
fabulous1609
pure1609
starryc1610
topgallant1613
lovely1614
soaringa1616
twanging1616
preclarent1623
primea1637
prestantious1638
splendid1644
sterling1647
licking1648
spankinga1666
rattling1690
tearing1693
famous1695
capital1713
yrare1737
pure and —1742
daisy1757
immense1762
elegant1764
super-extra1774
trimming1778
grand1781
gallows1789
budgeree1793
crack1793
dandy1794
first rate1799
smick-smack1802
severe1805
neat1806
swell1810
stamming1814
divine1818
great1818
slap-up1823
slapping1825
high-grade1826
supernacular1828
heavenly1831
jam-up1832
slick1833
rip-roaring1834
boss1836
lummy1838
flash1840
slap1840
tall1840
high-graded1841
awful1843
way up1843
exalting1844
hot1845
ripsnorting1846
clipping1848
stupendous1848
stunning1849
raving1850
shrewd1851
jammy1853
slashing1854
rip-staving1856
ripping1858
screaming1859
up to dick1863
nifty1865
premier cru1866
slap-bang1866
clinking1868
marvellous1868
rorty1868
terrific1871
spiffing1872
all wool and a yard wide1882
gorgeous1883
nailing1883
stellar1883
gaudy1884
fizzing1885
réussi1885
ding-dong1887
jim-dandy1888
extra-special1889
yum-yum1890
out of sight1891
outasight1893
smooth1893
corking1895
large1895
super1895
hot dog1896
to die for1898
yummy1899
deevy1900
peachy1900
hi1901
v.g.1901
v.h.c.1901
divvy1903
doozy1903
game ball1905
goodo1905
bosker1906
crackerjack1910
smashinga1911
jake1914
keen1914
posh1914
bobby-dazzling1915
juicy1916
pie on1916
jakeloo1919
snodger1919
whizz-bang1920
wicked1920
four-star1921
wow1921
Rolls-Royce1922
whizz-bang1922
wizard1922
barry1923
nummy1923
ripe1923
shrieking1926
crazy1927
righteous1930
marvy1932
cool1933
plenty1933
brahmaa1935
smoking1934
solid1935
mellow1936
groovy1937
tough1937
bottler1938
fantastic1938
readyc1938
ridge1938
super-duper1938
extraordinaire1940
rumpty1940
sharp1940
dodger1941
grouse1941
perfecto1941
pipperoo1945
real gone1946
bosting1947
supersonic1947
whizzo1948
neato1951
peachy-keen1951
ridgey-dite1953
ridgy-didge1953
top1953
whizzing1953
badass1955
wild1955
belting1956
magic1956
bitching1957
swinging1958
ridiculous1959
a treat1959
fab1961
bad-assed1962
uptight1962
diggish1963
cracker1964
marv1964
radical1964
bakgat1965
unreal1965
pearly1966
together1968
safe1970
bad1971
brilliant1971
fabby1971
schmick1972
butt-kicking1973
ripper1973
Tiffany1973
bodacious1976
rad1976
kif1978
awesome1979
death1979
killer1979
fly1980
shiok1980
stonking1980
brill1981
dope1981
to die1982
mint1982
epic1983
kicking1983
fabbo1984
mega1985
ill1986
posho1989
pukka1991
lovely jubbly1992
awesomesauce2001
nang2002
bess2006
amazeballs2009
boasty2009
daebak2009
beaut2013
1973 Australian 7 July 16 I love this ripper country.
1977 W. Moore Just to Myself 82 Next thing you know we go into this almighty skid, do a beaut figure eight, and finish up the way we came. ‘Bloody ripper, eh?’ bawls out Tip.
1989 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 1 Jan. 34/1 It's worth noting that the shop underneath makes ripper soymilk smoothies.
2006 Herald Sun (Austral.) (Nexis) 27 May w10 He's a ripper bloke. He's a beauty.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1611
adj.1973