to lop off
9
4.6
- phrasal verb
- /lɑp ɔf/
:
cortar
- The Republicans will gleefully lop off programs aimed at helping the poor while promoting tax cuts for the wealthy.
Would they be wise to lop off Social Security?
- Would they be wise to lop off Social Security?
- And so I looked out and there was Michael Gizzy in the tree, up in the tree with a chainsaw lopping off the the dead branches.
- And you need to be ready to lop chunks off of your build or what you're delivering because of the needs of production.
- They have you sit there, legs spread and I don't know, shaman or whatever comes with a really sharp rock, grabs your foreskin and just lops it off.
- Speaking of heads being lopped off, it's Christmas time.
Examples
-
Fortunately, most sticks of butter are marked so that folks can lop off what they want without needing a scale.
Blog text (8) -
This is for oils and I just lopped off the end with a saw cause oil brushes tend to be super long.
-
His brief was to lop off a chunk of hair.
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Why can't he cut down the whole tree instead of lopping off the branches?
-
And so I looked out and there was Michael Gizzy in the tree, up in the tree with a chainsaw lopping off the the dead branches.
-
After lopping off the thicker branches and boughs, they could harness the horses to the silver-gray trunk.
Fiction book (2000) -
The gardener decided to lop off the dead branches to encourage new growth.
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To improve the shape of the tree, Tom will lop off several limbs during the winter.
-
After the storm, the workers had to lop off the damaged sections of the fence.
Synonyms
100
5.6
To cut something completely away from a larger thing with a knife or tool
77
3.2
To remove a shape from paper or cloth using scissors
45
3.4
To remove something by cutting, often with a sharp blow
28
2.8
To make a piece come away from something by hitting or bending it
23
4.4
Separated by cutting from a larger thing
9
3.5
To break a piece from something with a quick, sharp movement
8
4.2
Cut off branches to make a tree or plant tidy and healthy
5
3.4
To remove a part from something with a knife or tool
2
3.7
To cut a small part off something quickly and neatly with scissors or shears
Cut off small parts by pinching or snipping
Antonyms
How Much
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to remove by cutting' is directly and predictably composed from 'lop' (to cut branches) plus the particle 'off' (indicating removal or separation), so a learner who knows both words can infer the phrasal-verb sense. This verb+particle composition follows a common English pattern and is therefore transparent to B1 learners familiar with the constituent meanings.
Etymology
Lop off comes from the image of cutting a branch or piece in one quick move so it falls away. Here, lop means to cut and off shows the cut piece is taken away, so the phrase means 'to remove part of something'.