▪ I. hop, n.1
(hɒp)
Also 5–6 hoope, hopp, 5–7 hoppe, 6 hope.
[In 15th c. hoppe, a. MDu. hoppe, Du. hop = late OHG. hopfo (MHG. hopfe, Ger. hopfen); med.L. hupa (for *huppa); ulterior origin obscure.]
1. (Usually in pl.) a. The ripened cones of the female hop-plant (see 2), used for giving a bitter flavour to malt liquors, and as a tonic and soporific.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 245/2 Hoppe, sede for beyre..hummulus, secundum extraneos. 1500–1600 Chester Pl. (Shaks. Soc.) II. 82 When I was a brewer longe With hoopes I made my ale stronge. 1502, 1542 [see beer n.1 1]. 1545 Nottingham Rec. III. 224 Duas libras hoppes pro vd. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 147 The English Beere is famous in Netherland..made of Barley and Hops; for England yeelds plenty of Hops. 1654 Trapp Comm. Job xxxix. 13 They were wont to say here, that Peacocks, Hops, and Heresie, came first into England in one and the same ship. 1711 Lond. Gaz. No. 4848/1 An Act for laying a Duty upon Hops. 1881 Whitehead Hops 61 The hops are picked into bins, long, light, wooden frames, with sacking bottoms. |
b. Beer. Also (as
hop) in
Comb. Chiefly
Austral. and
N.Z. slang.| 1929 W. R. Burnett Little Caesar vi. iv. 218 That dame's full of hop. 1930 Bulletin (Sydney) 1 Jan. 11/4 The proprietor provided a beer party, and the riot that arose out of the hop-drinking led to the school's first raid. 1940 F. Sargeson Man & Wife 24 Before Bill came back half a dozen Maoris had shouted her, and each time she had less than half a glass of beer... She was keen enough on the hops he said, but she was like that. |
2. a. A climbing perennial diœcious plant (
Humulus Lupulus, N.O.
Urticaceæ, suborder
Cannabineæ), with rough lobed leaves shaped like those of the vine; the male plant bears pentamerous flowers which grow in drooping panicles; the female bears green cones or catkins consisting of broad scales each with two flowers at the base. The plant is a native of Europe, and is much cultivated for its cones,
esp. in Bavaria, Belgium, England, and the United States: see 1.
The plant is believed to have been introduced into the south of England from Flanders between 1520 and 1524.
| 1538 Turner Libellus B ij b, Lupus salictarius, hoppes. 1562 ― Herbal ii. 42 b, I can fynd no mention of hoppes in any olde autor, sauing only in Pliny. 1572 L. Mascall Plant. & Graff. (1592) 81 To choose your Hoppe. Ye shall choose your rootes best for your Hop, in the Sommer before ye shall plant them. 1647 Sanderson Serm. II. 197 A hop, for want of a strong pole, will wind it self about a thistle or nettle or any sorry weed. 1754 Hume Hist. Eng., Jas. I, App. (R.), The planting of hops increased much in England during this reign. 1872 Oliver Elem. Bot. ii. 232 The Hop..is remarkable amongst the Nettle Family for its twining stem. |
b. Locally applied to
Medicago lupulina and
Bryonia dioica; in Australia to species of
Dodonæa and
Daviesia.
bog hop, a local name for Buckbean (
Menyanthes trifoliata).
| 1866 Treas. Bot. 727/2 M[edicago] lupulina..generally known by farmers as the Hop Trefoil, or Hop. 1876 Ibid. Suppl., Hop, Native, the seed-vessels of Dodonœa which are used in the same manner as the common hop in the manufacture of beer. 1879 Britten & Holland Plant-n., Hop, Bog..In allusion to its well-known bitter properties and place of growth. |
3. Phr.
as thick as hops (? referring to the plants when grown in rows, or to the crowded catkins of flowers); also
as fast as hops,
as mad as hops (? with play on
hop n.2).
| 1590 Nashe Pasquil's Apol. i. C, They must be throwne ouer the Pulpit as thicke as hoppes. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. (N.), At the bake-houses, as thicke as hops The tatling women..thy fourefold praises knead. 1677 Needham 2nd Packet Adv. 54 'Tis to be answer'd too as fast as Hops now. 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. Ser. & Com. 110 Other Amusements presented themselves as thick as Hops. 1884 Harper's Mag. Oct. 695/2 Such a grin! It made me mad as hops. |
4. A narcotic drug;
spec. opium.
| 1887 Lantern (New Orleans) 14 May 4/2 As long as a smoker can obtain his ‘hop’. 1903 Ade In Babel 110 Me settin' around on my shoulder-blades lookin' like one o' these bamboo boys full o' hop. 1911 C. B. Chrysler White Slavery xi. 89 When a ‘fiend’ is full of ‘hop’ he is cunning as the devil. 1916 [see cook v.1 2 d]. 1924 G. Bronson-Howard Devil's Chaplain vi. 97 It was he who controlled the available supply of ‘hop’. 1933 C. de Lenoir Hundredth Man iv. 63 ‘Sure,’ I replied, ‘but what are you going to do when you can't get a card of {oqq}hop{cqq} for love or money?’ 1955 U.S. Senate Hearings (1956) VIII. 4161 Opium in the underworld is referred to [as]..‘hop’. |
5. Comb. a. General
Combs., as
hop-bud,
hop-cone,
hop-dealer,
hop-drier,
hop-duty,
hop-frame,
hop-growing,
hop-harrow,
hop-harvest,
hop-plantation,
hop-prop,
hop-setter,
hop-top; (sense 4)
hop-dream,
hop-pipe.
| 1812 *Hop-dealer [see hop-porter in b]. |
| 1896 H. M. Blossom Checkers viii. 169 Half the time I think that I must be asleep, and trying to ‘cash a *hop-dream’. 1931 E. Linklater Juan in Amer. v. 401, I listened like I was in a hop-dream. 1934 J. M. Cain Postman always rings Twice xiv. 163 ‘That paper..was still in files, see?’..‘You mean that hop dream she called a confession?’ |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Hop-dryer, a chamber in which hops are artificially dried..Also called oast or hop-kiln. 1891 Daily News 12 Sept. 3/6 Hop-dryers earn about 7s. per day. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Hop-duty, a tax of about two-pence per pound, levied on hops. |
| 1887 Lantern (New Orleans) 21 May 4/1 The rising smoke that curls up from the bowl of the ‘*hop’ pipe. 1926 H. Crane Let. 19 Jan. (1965) 259 He might as well be in elfin land with a hop pipe in his mouth. |
| 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 206 The valley in which are these *hop-plantations, is formed by sharp hills rising very abruptly from the plain below. |
| 1664 Evelyn Sylva xvii. §6 The Timber [of the poplar] is incomparable..for Vine, and *Hop-props, and divers viminious works. |
b. Special
Combs.:
hop-back [
back n.2], a vessel with a perforated bottom for straining off the hops from the liquor in the manufacture of beer;
hop-bag, a large bag of coarse cloth for packing hops; hence
hop-bagging, the cloth of which this is made;
hop-bind,
-bine, the climbing stem of the hop-plant;
hop bitters, a kind of unfermented liquor flavoured with hops;
† hop-boll, the seed-vessel of the hop;
hop-bush, an Australian shrub belonging to the genus
Dodonæa;
hop-clover = hop-trefoil;
hop-cushion = hop-pillow;
hop-dresser, one who cultivates hops, a hop-grower;
hop-factor, a dealer in hops (Simmonds
Dict. Trade 1858);
hop fiend slang = hophead 1;
hop-flea, a very small beetle (
Phyllotreta or Haltica concinna), destructive to the hop-plant;
hop-fly, a species of aphis (
Phorodon humuli), destructive to the hop-plant;
hop frog-fly,
hop froth-fly, a species of froth-fly, (
Aphrophora interrupta or
Amblycephalus interruptus), destructive to the hop-plant;
hop-grower, one who grows hops as a crop;
hop-hill (see
hill n. 3 b);
hop hornbeam (see
hornbeam);
hop-jack = hop-back;
hop joint slang, an opium den;
hop-kiln, a kiln for drying hops; an oast;
hop marjoram,
medick, species of
marjoram,
medick;
hop-mildew, a parasitic fungus of genus
Sphærotheca, infesting the hop;
hop-nidget (see
nidget);
hop-oast, a kiln for drying hops (Simmonds
Dict. Trade 1858);
hop-oil, an acrid oil obtained from hops;
hop-pad slang = hop joint;
hop-pillow, a pillow stuffed with hops to produce sleep;
hop-plant,
= sense 2; also applied to species of
Origanum;
hop-planter = hop-grower;
hop-pocket (see
pocket);
hop-porter, a man employed to carry sacks of hops;
hop-press, a machine for expressing the liquid from hops after boiling;
hop-shim, a horse-hoe used in hop cultivation;
hop-tier, a person employed to tie the hop-bines to the poles;
hop toy slang, a container used for smoking opium;
hop-tree, a North American shrub or small tree (
Ptelea trifoliata), family Rutaceæ, with bitter fruit which has been used as a substitute for hops;
hop-trefoil, a name for yellow clover (
Trifolium procumbens), from the resemblance of its withered flower-heads to the cones of the hop; also applied to the hop medick,
Medicago lupulina;
hop-vine, the trailing stem or bine of the hop-plant, or the whole plant;
hop-yeast, yeast prepared from an infusion of hops. Also
hop-dog,
garden, etc.
| 1888 F. Faulkner Theory & Practice Mod. Brewing (ed. 2) ix. 145 The well-boiled wort filtered from hops and coagulated precipitate—and what this amounts to is seen under the false-bottom plates of *hop-back—left on cooler floor..undergoes..evaporation. 1892 H. E. Wright Handy Bk. Brewers i. 20 The boiling having lasted from one and a half to two hours..the copper is ‘turned out’ or ‘struck’, the boiling wort, hops and all, rushing out through an opened valve or tap into the hop-back, a vessel sometimes rectangular, sometimes circular in shape. 1937 ‘N. Blake’ There's Trouble Brewing ii. 51 ‘Shall I send a man to look in the hop-back?’ he added. ‘The hop-back?’ asked Nigel mystified. ‘That's right. Where the wort drains into.’ |
| 1604 T. M. Black Bk. Middleton's Wks. (Bullen) VIII. 22 Apparelled..in a wicked suit of coarse *hop-bags. 1733 P. Miller Gard. Dict. (ed. 2) s.v. Lupulus, Two or three times in a Day the Binn must be emptied into a Hop-bag made of coarse Linen Cloth. |
| 1705 Wakes Colne (Essex) Overseers Acc. (MS.), Paid for *hop baginge for Clarke and Woodward. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. VI. 58 Light wooden frames called binges..are clothed with hop-bagging, into which the hops are picked off the poles. |
| 1733 Act 6 Geo. II, c. 37 §6 If any Person maliciously cut any *Hop-binds growing on Poles in any Plantation of Hops [etc.]. |
| 1813 Examiner 3 May 279/2 The *hop bine said to come up very strong. 1846 Sir J. Tylden in J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 33 Using the old hop-bines in the hop-garden, instead of burning or otherwise wasting them. |
| 1894 Lancet 3 Nov. 1054 Other preparations affording excellent malt liquor substitutes are the *hop bitters and hop stout. |
| 1649 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1652) 179 It may do best if all of the *hop-bowl or husk be but cut and shattered as aforesayd. |
| 1883 F. M. Bailey Queensland Flora 82 (Morris) The capsules of many Dodonaeas are used for hops, and thus the shrubs are known as *hop-bushes. 1936 F. Clune Roaming round Darling xvii. 163 Lemon-bushes, minus the lemon, and a hop-bush, not hopping; but O'Malley said the old people used this bush for making bread. 1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 108 A thick patch of hop bush. |
| 1679 Lond. Gaz. No. 1383/4 A way to cleanse Trefoil or *Hopclover Seed from their husk. 1741 Compl. Fam. Piece iii. 421 Hop-clover, Trefoil, or three-leav'd Grass, are both finer and sweeter than the great Clover-grass. |
| 1685 in Canterb. Marr. Licences (ed. Cowper) Ser. iv. 397 Robert Rye of Barham, *hop dresser. May 21. |
| 1898 L. J. Beck N.Y. Chinatown xviii. 165 A *hop fiend went on a weary stroll, In search of a friend who a pill could roll. 1911 C. B. Chrysler White Slavery xi. 89 Opium smokers, ‘hop fiends’ or ‘hop heads’ as they are called, are the fiercest of all the White Slavers. |
| 1880 Chambers' Encycl., *Hop-flea..does much mischief in hop-plantations in spring. |
| 1834 Penny Cycl. II. 156/2 We may refer to the *hop-fly. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 404 On the 13th of May, 1845, the hop-fly made its appearance in my grounds. |
| 1868 Chambers' Encycl. Suppl., *Hop Froth-fly, or *Hop Frog-fly..sometimes appears in great numbers in hop-grounds, and does considerable mischief. |
| 1880 Times 10 Sept. 9/4 Our *hop-growers have continued to hold their own. |
| Ibid., It would be cause for general regret..were English *hop-growing to languish and die out. |
| 1707–12 J. Mortimer Husb. 145 Dissolved dung..to enrich your *Hop-hills. 1848 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. 549 It will be wrong to attempt to grow any other crop between the rows of hop-hills. |
| 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts I. 515 A shallow vessel or cooler, over which is placed the *hop-jack or sieve for straining out the spent-hops. |
| 1887 Lantern (New Orleans) 4 June 5/2 The police..raided them ‘*hop joints’. 1905 J. London Jacket xvi. 212 Chinatown dumps and hop-joints. 1923 E. Wallace Clue of New Pin xix. 167 ‘Running a philanthropic hop joint?’ asked the other sarcastically. 1931 D. Runyon Guys & Dolls (1932) i. 25 They find they are nothing but speak⁓easies, although one is a hop joint. 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 58/2 Hop joint, a place where opium is bought and smoked by addicts. |
| 1784 Lett. to Honoria & Marianne II. 75 By the way, he stopped to cheapen two hundred of hop-poles, and to inspect his new *hop-kiln. 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 205 The hop-kiln is occasionally otherwise employed than in drying hops. |
| 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 294/1 The *Hop-Mildew..is a parasitic disease of the hop. |
| 1818 Todd, *Hop-oast, in Kent, a kiln for drying hops. a 1887 Jefferies Field & Hedgerow (1889) 106 The shapely cone of the hop-oast rises at the end. |
| 1889 Watts' Dict. Chem. s.v., At the base of the membranous cones of the hop there is a bitter yellow powder called lupulin..When distilled with steam it yields *hop oil, which consists of a terpene C10 H16, and various compounds containing oxygen. |
| 1946 Mezzrow & Wolfe Really Blues (1957) xiv. 245 A little..coal bin..we cleaned out and converted into our *hop-pad. |
| 1834 Southey Doctor I. 9 Lettuces, cow⁓slip-wine, poppy-syrup,..*hop-pillows, spiders-web pills. 1884 Mary Wilkins in Harper's Mag. Oct. 792/1 There was a hop pillow in a little linen case. |
| 1817 J. Bradbury Trav. Amer. 43 On the sides of the hills I noticed abundance of the *hop plant. 1866 Treas. Bot. 822/2 These last [Origanum Dictamnus, and O. sipyleum] are popularly called Hop plants, and are often seen in cottage windows. |
| 1663–4 Canterb. Marriage Licences (MS.), Joh'es Dodd, civitatis Cant., *hopplanter. 1848 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. 538, I would advise every young hop-planter never to stick a plough in his hop-ground. |
| 1812 Examiner 5 Oct. 636/2 A *hop-porter..made oath, that..he hired himself..to Mr. G. S., a hop-dealer. |
| 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. (1807) I. 44 *Hop-shim, this implement is constructed with a frame, somewhat in the manner of the common wheel⁓barrow. |
| 1848 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. 555 It is not necessary for the *hop-tiers to wait until there are three bines for every pole long enough to tie. |
| 1881 N.Y. Medical Record 5 Nov. 512/1, I procured a full outfit for smoking [opium]..: A pipe..and a buffalo-horn box (*hop toy) for holding the opium. 1887 Hop toy [see cook v.1 2 d]. 1926 J. Black You can't Win xvii. 238 At last the little horn container, the ‘hop toy’, is empty. 1955 U.S. Senate Hearings (1956) VIII. 4162 Hop toy—container for smoking opium. |
| 1877 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 4), *Hop-tree,..the fruit, a wafer-like seed, grows in clusters. 1890 Chambers' Encycl., Hop-tree..also called Shrubby Trefoil, is planted as an ornamental plant. |
| 1855 Loudon's Encycl. Plants 648 *Hop-trefoil..is cultivated along with the perennial clover. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1170/1 The Procumbent or Hop Trefoil of the botanist..must not be confounded with the Hop Trefoil of the farmer, which is the Medicago lupulina. |
| 1707–12 J. Mortimer Husb. (J.), Have the poles without forks, otherwise it will be troublesome to part the *hop vines and the poles. 1884 Harper's Mag. Aug. 440/1 The cultivation of the hop vine. |
| 1884 Mary Wilkins Ibid. Oct. 790/1 She made *hop yeast. |
▪ II. hop, n.2 (
hɒp)
[f. hop v.1] 1. a. An act, or the action, of hopping; a short spring or leap,
esp. on one foot.
| 1508 Dunbar Gold. Targe 19 For mirth of May, wyth skippis and wyth hoppis. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme ii. l. 323 [He] is lead by the hops and skips, turnings and windings of his braine. 1611 Cotgr., Cahot, the iumpe, hop, or iog of a coach, etc., in a rugged, or uneven, way. 1834 Beckford Italy I. 125 All of a hop with toads and locusts. 1888 Longm. Mag. XI. 453, I thought I'd take the ball on the hop. |
b. humorously, A leap or step in dancing:
cf. 2.
| 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 33 He gaue Dauncers great stipends for selling their hopps. 1812 W. Tennant Anster F. iv. xiv, And scour with majesty of hop the ground. |
c. to catch (or take) on the hop: to take unawares, to surprise, to catch in the act.
| 1868 Broadside Ballad, The Chickaleary Cove (Farmer), For to catch me on the hop..You must wake up very early in the morning. 1872 R. D. Blackmore Maid of Sker I. xxv. 301 He caught me on the hop; at a moment of rumours and serious warnings. 1887 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 21 May 1103/1 The attendants taking him, as it were, ‘on the hop’. 1927 R. A. Freeman Certain Dr. Thorndyke i. xi, The police..caught him fairly on the hop with all the stolen property in his possession. 1947 ‘N. Shute’ Chequer Board iii. 68 But when you catch them on the hop, then you got to be plenty tough. 1959 New Statesman 14 Nov. 654/2 Some months ago our second child caught us on the hop and Jean had him here in this two roomed house. 1973 A. Behrend Samarai Affair viii. 83 Ships are wayward things, and she may have taken a sudden turn which caught Gosling on the hop. |
d. That distance which can be or is traversed in an aircraft or motor vehicle at one stretch; one stage of a long-distance journey.
| 1909 Flight 3 July 398/1 M. Breguet has a biplane there and has made one or two short ‘hops’. 1927 Daily News 7 June 7/1 By flying from New York to Eisleben..in one hop. 1931 D. Runyon Guys & Dolls (1932) x. 214 Finally after an extra long hop in an automobile we come to the outskirts of a..little burg. 1954 A. Huxley Let. 9 May (1969) 707 We leave for Cairo the day after tomorrow..then proceed to Beirut, Damascus and Istambul—short hops by air. 1958 Observer 10 Aug. 5/8 Companies..operate their jets on a number of economically valuable short hops. 1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 69 They had about three hundred miles to go, and because of the road conditions they decided to do it in two hops. |
e. Radio. A transmission path from one point on the earth to another that involves a single reflection from some region of the atmosphere.
| 1939 Proc. Inst. Radio Engin. XXVII. 640/2 The great-circle multiple-hop mode of propagation usually observed during all-daylight-path periods with 18-megacycle signals. 1966 Electronics 17 Oct. 137 This 178-mile tropo hop will connect Flyingsdales [sic] Moor, a ballistic missile early warning radar site..to Martlesham Heath. |
f. to go on the hop,
to play the hop: to play truant.
slang. (
Cf. hop v.
1 6 a.)
| 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. xvii. 372 A truant may also..be said to be..‘hopping it’ (in Rochdale ‘going on the hop’). 1968 L. Berg Risinghill 15 Another boy said: I got the cane for playing the hop... Playing the hop, and fighting. |
g. long hop (
Cricket): see
long a.
1 18 d.
2. slang or
colloq. a. A dance; a dancing-party,
esp. of an informal or unceremonious kind.
| 1731 Read's Weekly Jrnl. 9 Jan., Near an hundred people of both sexes..dancing to the musick of two sorry fiddles..it was called a three-penny hop. 1744–5 Mrs. Delany in Life & Corr. (1861) II. 335 Our little hop..was appointed for Wednesday. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 5 June, The vulgar..now thrust themselves into all assemblies from a ridotto at St. James to a hop at Rotherhithe. 1797 Sporting Mag. X. 73 The most famous Dancing Assembly, or, as it is vulgarly called, the genteelest Hop, that ever was known in London. 1831 Lady Granville Lett. (1894) II. 98 On Friday, at my hop, it was known that there was a majority against us. 1880 Scribner's Mag. XX. 917/2 A party of youths and..maidens..dressed for a hop. 1892 Kipling Barrack-room Ballads 64 To dance with blowzy housemaids at the regimental hops. 1948 J. Betjeman Sel. Poems 115 You going to the Hanks's hop to-night? 1970 D. M. Davin Not Here, Not Now ii. iii. 65 What about coming to the Arts Faculty bob hop on Saturday? |
b. on the hop: on the go, with no chance to relax, busy, active; enjoying oneself.
| 1863 T. Thompson in E. Corvan et al. Choice Collection Tyneside Songs 129 Wiv some varry canny chiels, All on the hop and murry. 1892 E. J. Milliken 'Arry Ballads 22 A fierce-looking party, all elbows, was likeways A deal on the 'op. 1908 G. H. Lorimer J. Spurlock iv. 78 I'd been on the hop ever since morning, for being in love with Anita was a strenuous calling. 1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 158 To be on the hop, être en bombe. 1952 A. Huxley Let. 29 Sept. (1969) 652 C is kept on the hop all the time, fetching, carrying, shopping etc. |
3. hop, step, and jump (also
hop, skip, and jump;
hop, step, and leap, etc.).
a. as
n. The action of making these three movements in succession; an athletic exercise in which the players try who can cover most ground with this sequence of movements. Also
spec., as an athletic event, and
transf. and
fig. Also
hop, step, and long jump. Hence
hop, step, and jumper.
| a 1719 Addison (J.), When my wings are on, I can go above a hundred yards at a hop, step, and jump. 1760 Sterne Tr. Shandy (ed. 3) I. xii. 48 Yorick..would as often answer with a pshaw!—and if the subject was started in the fields—with a hop, skip, and a jump, at the end of it. 1785 Burns Holy Fair iii, The third cam up, hap—step—an' lowp, As light as ony lambie. 1810 Scott Let. to Southey 20 May in Lockhart, I omitted no opportunity..of converting my dog-trot into a hop-step-and-jump. 1816 F. Burney Lett. 2 Apr., Your kind father..instantly ran downstairs, with a hop, skip, and a jump. 1819 Blackw. Mag. V. 613/1 A match at hop-step-and-jump between Tickler and Dr. Scott. 1858 Mayhew Upper Rhine v. §2 (1860) 265 It seems literally but a hop, skip, and a jump, from one..shelf of crags to the other. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 30 Apr. 7/1 The preliminaries of the hurdles, standing high jump, hop-step, and long jumps will also be decided. 1908 Times 7 July 16/5 July 25..10 a.m.—Athletics— hop, step, and jump. Ibid. 25 July 10/1 The hop, step, and jump fell to the United Kingdom, when an Irishman, T. J. Ahearne, created a British record of 48 ft. 111/4 in. 1909 Daily Chron. 24 Sept. 9/3 The hop-step-and-long-jump handicap. 1928 Observer 17 June 28/4 The only hop, step, and jumper of quality. 1935 Encycl. Sports 349/2 Hop-Step-and-Jump, Athletic event, of very ancient practice in the North of the British Isles. Now included in the Olympic Games, it has become the object of much specialization. Known also as the hop, skip and jump. 1961 Chapman & Abrahams Track & Field Athletics x. 71 It is not often that a Hop, Step and Jump athlete is able to use the more efficient Hitch-kick long jump action. 1966 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xlvi. 21 The paper had to be a hop, skip, and jump through the various sorts of annotations that Schele De Vere had made. |
b. attrib. or as adj. Of the nature of, or characterized by, such a saltatory motion. Also
fig.| 1783 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Odes to R.A.'s vi. Wks. 1812 I. 62 A hop and step and jump mode of inditing. 1808 Scott Autobiog. in Lockhart (1837) I. i. 44 Surprise that, after such a hop-step-and-jump perusal, I knew as much of the book. 1869 F. B. Palliser Brittany 248 The dancers..sidle round in a kind of hop-skip-and-a-jump step. 1895–6 Calend. Univ. Nebraska 233 It is not designed to give a hop-skip-and-jump star lecture course. |
c. as
v. intr. To make this movement; to proceed with irregular saltatory action. Also
fig.| 1815 Sheridan Let. to Mrs. Sheridan 27 Apr., Mind I don't hop, step, and jump through a book as some certain people do. 1891 L. B. Walford Mischief Monica III. 21 We pay the porter..and hop-skip-and-jump into the train. |
d. Used as
adv. phr.| 1906 Smart Set June 102/1 To go hop, skip and jump over the earth's surface. |
▪ III. hop, v.1 (
hɒp)
Pa. tense and
pple. hopped,
hopt (
hɒpt). Also 2
oppe, 3–6
hoppe, 6–
Sc. hap.
[OE. hoppian, corresp. to ON., Sw. hoppa, Da. hoppe; also MHG., mod.G. hopfen, early mod.Fl. hoppen (Kilian):—OTeut. *hoppôjan, co-radicate with *huppjan, (see hip v.1), also with High Ger. dial. hoppen (:—*hoppôn:—*hubbôn) and OE. hoppetan to jump about. The OTeut. stem hupp-, prob. represented a pre-Teut. kupn- from root kup-: cf. OSlav. kŭpěti to hop, leap.] 1. intr. a. To spring a short way upon the ground or any surface with an elastic or bounding movement, or a succession of such movements: said of persons, animals, and things. Formerly a general synonym of
leap; now implying a short or undignified leap (
perh. by association with b).
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 202 Ða blissode min cild on minum innoðe, and hoppode onᵹean his Drihten. c 1230 Hali Meid. 17 And te deoueles hoppen. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 285 Þanne Lanfrank hopped for joye. 1398 ― Barth. De. P.R. xviii. iv. (1495) 751 The lambe hoppith and lepeth tofor the folke. c 1440 York Myst. xxxi. 164 O! my harte hoppis for joie. 1535 Coverdale 1 Kings xviii. 26 They [Baal's priests] hopped aboute the altare, as their vse was to do. ― Ps. lxvii[i]. 16 Why hoppe ye so, ye greate hilles? 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. i. 43 If any drop Of liuing bloud yet in her veynes did hop. 1597 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 17, I saw the hurcheon and the hair..Wer happing to and fro. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 181 The fawne..that plaid skipping and hopping round about him. 1758 Gray Let. in Poems (1775) 261 Mr. Shenstone..goes hopping along his own gravel-walks, and never deviates from the beaten paths. 1758 in Doran ‘Mann’ & Manners (1876) II. i. 18 Count Lorenzi hopped in, in the evening. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Let. xi, Bullets happed aff his buff-coat like hailstanes from a hearth. |
b. spec. Of animals: To move by leaps with both or all the feet at once, as opposed to walking or running: said
esp. of small birds, frogs, grass-hoppers, sand-hoppers, fleas, and the like.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 246/1 Hoppyn as fleys, or froschys, or other lyke, salio. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 401 Hop as light as bird from brier. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 60 They are a kind of Stares, for they walk, and do not hop as other birds. a 1813 A. Wilson Discons. Wren Wks. (1846) 98 But lanely, lanely aye I'll hap, 'Mang auld stane⁓dykes and braes. a 1845 Hood Mermaid Margate ix, She hopt like a Kangaroo! c 1850 Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.) 405 The bird..flew upon the table..hopping from dish to dish. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus iii. 9 The sparrow..Hopping round her, about her, hence or hither. |
c. Of a person: To spring or leap on one foot, or move onwards by a succession of such leaps.
| 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. Ser. & Com. 57 They [women] Hop always upright with one Foot upon the Ground. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 6 ¶2 A Man..hopping instead of walking. 1872 Huxley Phys. vii. 165 The thigh⁓bone of the leg..is bent up towards the body and not used, in the action of hopping. |
2. To dance (for which it is now only a playful expression); also with cognate
obj.| c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's Prol. 22 We hoppen ay, whil that the world wol pype. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 246/1 Hoppyn, or skyppyn.., salto. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems liii. 25 He hoppet lyk a pillie wantoun. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 71 Where all thy pleasure is, hop hoore, pipe theefe. 1791 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Magpie & Robin Wks. 1812 II. 475 And hops like modern Beaus in Country-dances. 1806 Morn. Herald in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1807) X. 266 She..snapped the small bone of her right leg in hopping a reel with Lord Sligo. 1825 Brockett, Hop, to dance. |
3. To limp.
| 1700 Dryden Iliad i. 769 The limping Smith..hopping here and there (himself a jest). 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 235 Away he hops with his crutch. 1814 D. H. O'Brien Captiv. & Escape 46, I insisted upon their leaving me in the rear, to hop on and struggle for myself..I..limped on with the assistance of my club. |
4. trans. a. To hop about (a place).
b. To hop or jump over.
| 1791 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Rights of Kings Wks. 1812 II. 423 Poor Bird, whom fate oft cruelly assails..To hop a garden, and hunt snails. Mod. I could hop that easily. |
c. To jump on to (a moving vehicle); to obtain (a ride, a lift) in this way; to catch (a train, etc.).
colloq. (
orig. U.S.).
| 1909 W. Stevens Let. 21 Jan. (1967) 125, I used to ‘hop’ coal-trains and ride up the Lebanon Valley. 1918 in F. A. Pottle Stretchers (1930) 214 The other day, I hopped a truck and went ‘to the front’. 1929 Lit. Digest 30 Nov. 30/2 Boys are predominantly the ones who ‘hop’ rides on trucks, trains and other vehicles. 1935 M. M. Atwater Murder in Midsummer xiii. 117 Before midnight he intended to hop the twelve-twenty out. 1940 J. Cary Charley is My Darling xlii. 167, I hopped a lorry once with Su, half-way to Twyport. 1967 C. O. Skinner Madame Sarah vi. 119 She and some friends hopped a train for Liverpool and drove to the Cross Zoo. |
5. To cause to hop.
| 1860 Ld. Dundonald Autobiog. Seaman I. xv. 260 These guns were got on board by means of hawsers carried from the frigate to the cliff, one end being made fast to the masthead. By the application of the capstan and tackles the guns were thus hopped on board. |
6. Phrases.
a. hop the twig: to depart, go off, or be dismissed suddenly; (also simply
hop, hop off) to die.
to hop the wag: to play truant.
slang.| 1797 M. Robinson Walsingham II. 279 Must look in upon the rich old jade, before she hops off. Ibid. IV. 280 [He] kept his bed three days, and hopped the twig on the fourth. 1828 Craven Dial., Hop, to die. Ibid., Hop, ‘to hop the twig’, to run away in debt. 1861 Mayhew London Labour III. 113, I used to hop the wag from school. 1870 M. Bridgman R. Lynne II. xiv. 289 If old Campbell hops the twig. 1903 J. London People of Abyss xxiii. 280 The boy told a certain bishop, ‘At ten we 'ops the wag...’ Which is to say, at ten they play truant. 1959 Guardian 24 Oct. 4/5 Episodic truancy during the last year at school—known as ‘hopping the wag’. 1964 M. Todd Ever Such a Nice Lady iii. 30 The two of them had ‘hopped the wag’ from school one afternoon. |
b. hop headless: see
headless 1 b.
hop step (skip) and jump: see
hop n.2 3 c.
c. to hop it: to be off, go away quickly.
| 1914 W. Owen Let. 24 Aug. (1967) 279, I should hop it, immejit. 1915 Scotsman 13 Jan. 7/3 The Zeppelin kept a few miles in the rear of us, and finally hopped it. 1916 ‘Boyd Cable’ Action Front 186 ‘Are we going to stick it here?’ said one. ‘Didn't the sergeant say something about 'opping it?’ 1924 M. Newman Consummation iv. xviii. 216 J. H. hopped it for all he was worth. A perfect tornado of bombs pursued him. 1934 T. S. Eliot Rock i. 12 The commission bloke on the door looks at us and says: ‘'op it!’ |
d. to hop in (out): to get into (out of) a car, etc.
| 1914 Kipling Diversity of Creatures (1917) 388 Oh, hop in and drive... We want that beer! 1933 M. de la Roche Master of Jalna viii. 89 Why don't you hop in,..and go with them? 1955 M. Gilbert Sky High xiv. 196 Hop out, Rupert. 1963 B. S. Johnson Travelling People i. 23 I'm making for Aberfyllin,..but I think I can take you about thirty miles along this road... Hop in. 1972 D. Devine Three Green Bottles 8 A car had pulled up just down the road... ‘Hop in. I'll take you.’ |
e. With
off. To be off, depart;
spec., to start on a ‘hop’ (
hop n.2 1 d) in an aircraft.
| 1922 C. E. Montague Disenchantment ii. 18 What the 'ell did you ever come to me for? 'Op off! Out of it! 1926 —— Rough Justice viii. 113 Molly and Auberon suddenly felt the breathless stillness of the place infringed by a low, earnest voice on the shore near them: ‘It's 'im! 'Op orf!’ It was the voice of an aged ferryman they knew. 1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 7 July 5/5 The detailed story of Lieutenant Reece reveals the fact that on Friday morning..he had hopped off from Digby Island for Naden Harbor. The plane was heavily loaded, and it was not without some difficulty that he got away. 1930 Morning Post 5 Aug. 9/2 Given favourable weather, he will hop off for England to-morrow, his first stage to Bima..taking him across the Timor Sea. 1934 W. Stevens Let. 12 Feb. (1967) 267 If all goes well, I shall hop off for Florida in a day or two. |
f. Colloq. phr. to hop into bed (with): to have (casual) sexual intercourse (with).
Cf. bed n. 6 c.
| 1951 E. Coxhead One Green Bottle viii. 229 Hopping quick into bed would be all you'd think of. 1968 ‘J. Welcome’ Hell is where you find It iii. 44 His features were quite strikingly handsome... You'd think every woman he met would have only one thought and that was to hop into bed with him. 1971 C. Whitman Death Suspended i. 22 Duncan wouldn't waste too much time on her unless she was willing to hop into bed. |
7. Comb. hop-about, (
a) the action of hopping about, a dance; (
b) name for an apple dumpling;
hop-ball, some game with a ball;
hop-crease = hop-scotch;
hop-frog = leap-frog n.;
† hop-legged a., lame in the leg (
cf. 3);
† hop-my-fool, some gambling game;
hop-off Aeronaut., the take-off of an aircraft;
hop-over Army slang, an assault; hence
hop over v., to attack, to go ‘over the top’. Also
hop-o'-my-thumb.
| 1593 Bacchus Bountie in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 275 The pots danced for joy the old *hop about commonly called Sellengar's Round. 1820 Sporting Mag. (N.S.) VI. 95 She made..four and twenty hop-a-bouts—apple dumplings—out of one pound of flour. |
| 1811 Ibid. XXXVIII. 223 A particular game denominated *Hop-Ball. |
| 1803 W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. I. 354 Flying kites, knuckling marbles, chuck-half⁓penny and *hop-crease. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Hop-crease, the game among boys more commonly called hop-scotch..A scotch is a cut or crease. |
| 1720 Gordon & Trenchard Indep. Whig No. 32 ¶13 He bows..and ducks his Head, as if he was playing at *Hop Frog. |
| 1714 Savage Art Prudence 257 *Hop-legg'd, Hump-back'd..never did any thing that was either Good or Honest. |
| 1824 Galt Rothelan II. iii. i. 8 The slouched and the slovenly..wrangled at skittles and toss-my-luck, and bent eagerly over the *hop-my-fool tables. |
| 1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 13 Jan. 1/7 The expedition planes will be..flown..to Point Barrow, where the *hop-off for the Polar flight will be made. 1927 S. Bent Ballyhoo i. 36 To the mere hop-off by Lindbergh the New York Times gave three first page eight-column streamers. |
| 1918 H. Matthews in Murdoch & Drake-Brockman Austral. Short Stories (1951) 243 They didn't have the dash of the Australians in the *hop-over. 1929 Papers Mich. Acad. Sci., Arts & Lett. X. 299 Hop over, Australian for ‘go over the top’. 1933 Partridge Words, Words, Words! iii. 194 In the hop-over, many hoped for and some got a wound sufficiently serious to cause them to be sent ‘home’. |
Sense 6 f in
Dict. becomes 6 g. Add:
[6.] f. In
pr. pple. to keep (someone or something) hopping: to keep active, busy, or lively; similarly,
to be (get, etc.) hopping.
colloq. (chiefly
U.S.).
| 1926 H. Crane Let. 2 Mar. (1965) 234 The cold has kept us hopping, though, and I'll be glad to greet the first warm days. 1960 E. B. White Let. June (1976) 471 Things are hopping here this morning by the sea. 1979 United States 1980/81 (Penguin Travel Guides) 278 Several acts keep the place hopping from dinner-time to the wee hours. 1990 J. McGahern Amongst Women 13 Put on the kettle. Set the table. Get hopping. |
▪ IV. hop, v.2 (
hɒp)
[f. hop n.1] 1. trans. To impregnate or flavour with hops. (Chiefly used in
pass.)
| 1572 J. Jones Bathes Buckstone 10 a, Ale, neyther to new, nor to stale, not ouerhopped. 1587 Harrison England ii. vi. (1877) i. 160 The drinke..being well hopped it lasteth longer. 1605 Camden Rem. (1637) 287 A man of worship, whose beere was better hopped then maulted. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 165, I never taste Malt Liquor; but they say, 'tis well hopt. 1830 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. I. 163 Malt liquors which have been highly hopped will at length lose all bitterness, and become powerfully acid. |
2. intr. Of the hop-plant: To produce hops.
| 1848 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. ii. 554 They climb the poles fast..but do not..hop so well. Ibid. 557 The Goldings do not hop down generally so low as many other sorts. |
3. To gather or pick hops: see
hopping vbl. n.2▪ V. hop obs. form of
hap v.
2,
hope.