hop1
/hɒp
/verb (hops, hopping, hopped)
1 [no object, with adverbial of direction] (Of a person) move by jumping on one foot: he hopped along beside her...
- ‘You're hopping, you're jumping, you're running, you're planting your feet,’ he says.
- I arranged to meet him in a pub in Naas and I was expecting someone older and I was hopping on one foot waiting to meet him when he came over to me.
- I started hopping from one foot to the other, it couldn't get any worse. could it?
Synonyms
jump, bound, spring, bounce, skip, jig, trip, flit, leap, prance, caper, dance, frolic, gambol
1.1(Of a bird or other animal) move by jumping with two or all feet at once: a blackbird was hopping around in the sun...
- Actions are jerky and the bird hops rather than climbs even when beneath a branch.
- Similarly, if you observe birds hopping around on the ground, you are not going to think ‘warblers.’
- Many birds of prey were hopping around on the ground, eating grubs and worms, unable to fly because of the lack of thermals.
1.2Spring or leap a short distance with one jump: he hopped down from the rock...
- With a stiff spring, the particle hops over short distances and tends to be localized, whereas the particle can make long jumps, sliding over many valleys, when the spring is soft.
- The Leinster champions had another slice of good fortune when a poor point attempt by Sheridan fell short but hopped over the bar for a point.
- He hopped down from the short stage and Jerry followed him to the outer wall.
1.3 [with object] North American informal Jump on to (a moving vehicle): ex-soldiers looking for work hopped freights heading west...
- My head is swimming with dreams and schemes and the overwhelming desire to hop a bus or a train or a plane and make this dream happen.
- The perfect setting for a little ego death on the Nile before hopping the sleeper train back to Cairo.
- With the release of the first bit of material since he hopped the solo train, I'm sorry to say that not too much has changed.
1.4 [with object] Jump over (something): the cow hopped the fence...
- I jumped a fence, ran down backyards and alleys, hopped another fence, and the dog was waiting.
- He hopped the small white fence and jogged over to us, fishing a pair of keys out of his khaki pants.
- And William jumps off that little fellow and hops the fence and he and I run like crazy and hide in the house with all the animals that live in the dark.
2 informal Pass quickly from one place to another: she hopped over the Atlantic for a bit of shopping [as noun, in combination]: island-hopping...
- Suddenly concerned he opened the door quickly and rushed inside, startling Blair who was hopping from the desk to the couch.
- You can't simply have people hopping around at will to avoid the authorities.
- The industry really seems to consist of the same 50 people hopping around some ten places all the time.
Synonyms
go, dash, rush
informal pop, whip
British informal nip
2.1 (hop it) British informal Go away quickly: I hopped it down the stairs...
- There's the brooding and mysterious Velimir Zajec, catalyst for Harry hopping it, and there's the long-lost hero - what has Joe Jordan been doing for the last few years?
- Gary Ruane came across and I hopped it back inside.
- So I hopped it to next-door St Lucia and probably my favourite restaurant in the world, Bang.
2.2Make a quick change of position or activity: over the years he hopped from one department to another...
- So a quick decision later we hopped over to the supermarket feeling lucky they would have some left.
- They hopped back to their positions on either side of the bridge.
- He gave me a quick kiss before hopping onto the podium.
noun
1A hopping movement: place the rabbit on the floor to have a hop around...
- The dancers rely on powerful, rather slow, twirling movements with hops.
- I came out of work tonight with a kind of a hop and a skip.
- I added a minor hop and skip to my customary semi-shuffle and waved my stick about a bit.
Synonyms
jump, bound, bounce, prance, leap, spring, skip, gambol
1.1A short journey or distance: a short hop by cab from Soho...
- Many iSCSI applications are latency sensitive, so building the network with the fewest number of hops and the shortest possible links is usually a key consideration.
- Getting to Okanagan involves a four - to six-hour drive or a short plane hop from Vancouver or Seattle.
- The number of hops on the shortest path between people is sometimes called the graph distance or degree of separation between those people.
Synonyms
journey, distance, ride, drive, run, trip, jaunt;
flight, plane trip
informal spin
2An informal dance: the society’s regular fortnightly hop...
- This surge in popularity in all forms of dance is equally mirrored in the lindy hop, with many events occurring around the country.
- The band then romp through three road songs that most people would die for to have in their repertoire, each single one would get people leaping about on the dance floor at a college hop.
- For Ryan, however, the more important component of lindy hop is its roots in black history.
Synonyms
dance, social, party, jamboree, gathering, function, disco
informal bash, bop, shindig, shindy, do
British informal rave-up, knees-up, beanfeast, beano, bunfight
Phrases
hop, skip (or step), and jump
hop the twig (or stick)
on the hop
Phrasal verbs
hop in (or out)
hop into
Origin
Old English hoppian, of Germanic origin; related to German dialect hopfen and German hopsen.
Rhymes
hop2
/hɒp/noun
1A twining climbing plant native to north temperate regions, cultivated for the flowers borne by the female plant, which are used in brewing beer.
- Humulus lupulus, family Cannabaceae (or Cannabidaceae).
- An example of this would be a manufacturer acquiring retail outlets or a hop grower beginning to brew his own beer.
- It is registered for use on powdery mildews in pome fruit, stone fruit, citrus fruit, soft fruit, vines, cucurbits, ornamentals, tobacco, hops and some vegetables.
1.1 (hops) The dried cone-like flowers of the hop, used in brewing to give a bitter flavour and as a mild sterilant.Yeast ferments the sugars in the malt to alcohol while the hops provide bitter flavour and aroma....
- Aromatic, smoky, malty notes wrap themselves around the delicate flavours of the hops and the brewing yeasts.
- That means eliminating impure tastes in the brewing process so the flavour of the hops can emerge untainted.
1.2 (hops) Australian /NZ informal Beer.Sonya's husband was running to meet us before I was within sniffing distance of the hops.
1.3 [mass noun] US informal, dated A narcotic drug, especially opium.
verb (hops, hopping, hopped)
1 [with object] Flavour with hops: a strong dark beer, heavily hopped...
- Henry VIII banned his brewer from adding hops to the royal brew, but as wine became more expensive the popularity of hopped beer grew.
2 (be hopped up) informal Be stimulated or intoxicated by or as if by a narcotic drug: most muggers were hopped up on coke or angel dust he was very much hopped up about the concerto...
- None cared about the threat of AIDS, and all were hopped up on crystal meth - a drug the story's headline described as THE BEAST IN THE BATHHOUSE.
- A mere decade ago, at the height of his titanic drug addiction, Earle would all too often be hopped up and smacked out in a Nashville crackhouse.
- Supporting CTF, deathmatch, and team deathmatch, the entire multiplayer experience is hopped up on cocaine.
Derivatives
hoppy
- Another curious ad on a bus shelter: Summit Beer has a new brand called ‘Grand’ - it's a cheerful beer for the Bud crowd, the people who find hoppy beers too bitter, too harsh, too unbeery.
- Less strong than Shephard Neame's flagship Bishop's Finger at 4.7 per cent, Spitfire is a full-bodied, rounded, clean beer with a hoppy flavour which is served at its best just below room temperature.
- In pre-filled flagons, they had Parrot & Jigger's two Katipo Pale Ales - go for their stronger Pale Ale as it's still easy to drink and more hoppy, herbaceous and spicy in the flavour.
Origin
Late Middle English hoppe (in the sense 'ripened hop cones for flavouring malt liquor'), from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch.