I. ˈkräpə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from croppen to crop + -er
: one that crops: as
a.
(1) : one that raises produce ; specifically : sharecropper
returned to the soil as croppers and later as tenants — American Guide Series: Tennessee
(2) : a market gardener who raises special crops out of season
b. : a plant that yields a crop
this raspberry is a good cropper
c. : a worker who cuts hides into crops and butt bends — called also carver
d.
(1) : any of various workers who shear textiles, metals, or leather
(2) : a machine for doing this work
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: crop (I) (gullet) + -er
: a pigeon resembling the pouter
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: perhaps from crop (I) (neck) + -er
1. : a severe fall
first time in the saddle he got an awful cropper
2. : a sudden or violent failure or collapse
his delusions and the croppers they cost him — Edmund Wilson
— often used with come
to see their betters come a cropper — Tyrone Guthrie