# hop

Pronunciation: say "HOP" US /hɑp/, UK /hɒp/, AUS /hɔp/

## Verb

1. To make a short jump, or to move along by a series of short jumps.
   - Simple: To jump a short way, or to move along in small jumps.
   - _The kangaroo hopped toward the water hole on its powerful back legs._
   - _Sparrows hop along the sidewalk, pecking at crumbs._
2. To go or move somewhere quickly or abruptly. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To go somewhere in a quick or sudden way.
   - _He hopped on his laptop to check the scores before the meeting._
   - _Let me hop into the shower before we head out._
3. To suddenly take a train, plane, or other ride that someone else drives, often secretly.
   - Simple: To quickly get on a train, plane, or bus that someone else drives, often in secret.
   - _As a teenager, he hopped freight trains across the Midwest without paying._
   - _If the meeting ends early, I'll hop the next flight home._
5. To move often from one place or situation to another of the same kind.
   - Simple: To keep going from one place or situation to another that is much the same.
   - _We island-hopped across Greece on a string of slow ferries._
   - _Rather than settle in one city, they hop from apartment to apartment every few months._
6. To get over something, or up onto it, by jumping.
   - Simple: To jump over something or onto it.
   - _The driver swerved, and the car hopped the curb before stopping on a lawn._
   - _Some riders hop the turnstiles when the ticket machines are broken._
8. To jump on one foot, keeping the other off the ground.
   - Simple: To jump using only one foot.
   - _With a sprained ankle, she had to hop to the car on her good foot._
   - _The coach had the players hopping on one leg to test their balance._
11. To treat or flavor with hops, especially by adding them to beer as it is being brewed.
   - Simple: To add hops to something, usually beer while it is being made, for flavor.
   - _Brewers hop the ale late in the boil to keep its citrus aroma._
   - _The monks hopped their beer lightly so that it would not taste bitter._
12. Of a place, to buzz with energetic, bustling activity.
   - Simple: To be very busy and full of activity.
   - _The holiday rush kept the whole warehouse hopping until midnight._
   - _Downtown really starts to hop once the ballgame lets out._
13. To dance, moving to the music. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To dance to music.
   - _At the reunion, old friends got up to hop to the songs they loved in high school._
   - _By ten o'clock, the whole wedding party was hopping to the swing band._
17. To gather hops, the flowers of the hop plant.
   - Simple: To pick hops, the flowers used to make beer.
   - _Every September the family took the train out to the farms to hop, filling bins with the green cones for a few pennies a bushel._
   - _As a girl she went hopping each summer, stripping the vines from morning till dusk._

## Noun

4. A climbing plant, Humulus lupulus, or its dried cone-shaped flowers (hops), which are used in brewing to give beer its bitterness and aroma.
   - Simple: A climbing plant whose dried flowers, called hops, are used to give beer its bitter taste.
   - _The brewer adds hops late in the boil to give the ale a floral aroma._
   - _The pale ale has a sharp hop bitterness that lingers after each sip._
7. A short jump, especially one made on one foot or, by an animal, with both feet together.
   - Simple: A small jump, often on one foot.
   - _The robin made a little hop toward the crumbs, then stopped to look around._
   - _The toad reached the edge of the patio in a few hops._
9. A short journey, especially a short flight on a private plane.
   - Simple: A short trip, often a short flight on a private plane.
   - _The executives took the company jet for the quick hop to Palm Springs._
   - _Most riders on the early train are commuters making short hops between nearby towns._
10. The passing of a data packet from one network node, such as a router, to a neighboring node, as one step in its journey across a network.
   - Simple: One step when a piece of computer data moves from one machine to the next on a network.
   - _The trace showed that each packet needed fourteen hops to reach the server in Tokyo._
   - _Every extra hop adds a little delay, so the engineers rerouted traffic through a closer data center._
15. A bounce of a thrown or batted ball, especially off the ground. *(US)*
   - Simple: One bounce of a ball after it is thrown or hit, usually off the ground.
   - _The grounder took a bad hop and skipped past the shortstop's glove._
   - _The center fielder's throw reached home plate on one hop._
16. A short step or move forward in development or progress, often leading on to a next stage. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A small step forward, often leading to the next stage.
   - _For the young actress, the move from regional theater to her first film role turned out to be a short hop._
   - _The startup grew in quick hops: a first client, a bigger office, then a national contract._

## Noun

14. A dance, or a social gathering held for dancing. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A party where people come to dance.
   - _The whole senior class turned out for the Friday-night hop in the school gym._
   - _He met his wife at a Saturday hop at the veterans' hall._

## Verb

18. To walk unevenly because of a lame leg; to limp. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To walk in an uneven way because a leg or foot is hurt.

## Other meanings

- (noun) Opium or another narcotic drug.
- (noun) The fruit of the dog rose, the same thing as a hip.
- (noun) In online chat, another name for a half-op.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 5–10, 12–16, 18** — Old English hoppian, which meant "to hop, spring, leap, dance," became Middle English hoppen. It goes back through Proto-Germanic *huppōną ("to hop") to Proto-Indo-European *kewb- ("to bend, bow"). Dutch hoppen, German hüpfen, Danish hoppe and Swedish hoppa, all meaning to hop or jump, are related.
**Meanings 4, 11, 17** — Middle English took hoppe from Middle Dutch hoppe, which came from Old Dutch *hoppo and, before that, Proto-Germanic *huppô. That form may go back to *(s)keup, a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "tuft, hair of the head," in reference to how the plant looks. German Hopfen and French houblon are related.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/hop (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).