I. ˈstäpə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from stoppen to stop + -er — more at stop
1. : one that brings to a halt or causes to stop operating or functioning : check
do not appear to have been very effective bullet stoppers, since the sheet of steel was so thin — J.C.Swaim
conversation stopper
show stopper
as
a.
(1) : a short piece of rope having a knot and lanyard at one end with a hook at the other
(2) : a contrivance (as a length of rope or chain) to secure a rope or chain or to check it while running
(3) : a device to secure a rowlock
b. : a device or appliance to stop machinery
c.
(1) : a card that will stop the run of a suit
(2) : both of two high cards whose possession by a pinochle player assures that no other player can make a certain meld
d. : a baseball pitcher depended on to win important games or to stop a losing streak of his team ; also : an effective relief pitcher
e. : something that seizes the attention
good pictures of babies, animals, and pretty girls are the conventional stoppers because they are so high in human interest and attention value — Daniel Melcher & Nancy Larrick
2. : one that closes, shuts, or fills up
the rock was the stopper in the bottleneck — Burtt Evans
as
a. : something (as a bung or cork) used to plug an opening
oval bottles … with ground-glass stoppers — Lois Long
b. : a composition to stop up holes
c. : one that applies a coating of stopping paste
d. : earth stopper
3.
a. : any of several trees of the genus Eugenia (especially E. axillaris ) of Florida and the West Indies with hard close-grained wood
b. : white stopper
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. : to close or secure with a stopper : fit a stopper on
the big problem in wine manufacture was how to stopper the bottles — Scots Magazine
2. : to close as if with a stopper : plug
babies — their mouths stoppered up with pacifiers — Jean Stafford