lopping (off)

present participle of lop (off)
as in shaving
to make (something) shorter or smaller with the use of a cutting instrument the hair stylist started by lopping off several inches from her long tresses, before beginning to shape what was left

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for lopping (off)
Verb
  • Like almost winning a race, almost shaving a second off my time for the 3200m run, my event in high school, the one that got me into college, a recruit for someone else to gamble on.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The point-shaving scheme resulted in more than $3 million in fraudulent wagers.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Upgrading to the Thrust Variant requires a $245,000 follow-up payment and adds SpaceX cold-gas rear thrusters alongside an active multi-mode fan system for downforce, cutting acceleration down to under a second.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2026
  • And by cutting China off, Washington gave Beijing every reason to build its own alternatives.
    — Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Buying Al Nassr would put RedBird at the center of Saudi Arabia’s multi-billion-dollar sports expansion, which had been on a tear before the government began cutting back on spending.
    — Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 19 Oct. 2026
  • That means choosing potassium-rich foods that support healthy blood pressure, like lentils and leafy greens, while cutting back on others that cardiologists recommend limiting.
    — Laura Bradley, HEALTH, 17 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Rather than trimming that weight, Fukushima's lab asked whether anything needed to be worn at all.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Spectator interference became the ruling, and Volpe was awarded an RBI double that scored Lombard from first base, trimming Tampa Bay's lead to 4-3.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 7 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Gen Z Wants to Go Ghost, Not Girlboss That said, the characters do have to be worth clipping, and love him or hate him, Ryan Murphy has always had a knack for creating fictional people who feel bigger than whatever nonsensical story spawned them.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The sequence stylistically excises itself from the episode as though clipping it, anticipating its excision from the show when uploaded to a video-sharing platform.
    — Harmon Siegel, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Lopping (off).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lopping%20%28off%29. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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