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# cropper

noun (a cropper, croppers)

«cropper» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (informal, UK, Australia, NZ) Come a cropper: to fall over badly, or to fail badly: he came a cropper on his bike. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cropper/#m1)
2. A plant that gives a crop: a good cropper (a plant that produces a lot). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cropper/#m2)
3. (US, history) A sharecropper: a farmer who works land and pays the owner with part of the crop. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cropper/#m3)

### In the lessons

Mostly heard in the jokey phrase "come a cropper" in British, Irish, Australian and New Zealand talk, in stories about slips, falls and failures. In gardening, a "heavy cropper" gives lots of fruit. Phrases: come a cropper, a heavy cropper, a good cropper.

### Examples

- He raced down the hill and came a cropper at the bottom. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cropper/#x1)
- (informal) The team came a cropper in the final and lost 5–0. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cropper/#x2)
- Watch out for ice or you'll come a cropper. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cropper/#x3)
- This apple tree is a heavy cropper — we picked 200 apples. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cropper/#x4)
- The horse came a cropper at the last fence. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cropper/#x5)
- These tomatoes are good croppers. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cropper/#x6)

### Note

Almost always in "come a cropper" (= fall or fail). It is informal and old-fashioned but still common in the UK and Australia. Not related to "crop top" (a short top).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «cropper» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cropper/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«cropper» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/cropper.html) on Mova free.