stopper (stoper)

[ fills up holes or openings. IMG:content-2211.png:[blocks in formation] (b) That which closes or fills up (an opening, etc.), as a no special plug, a bung, or a cork; especially, such an article for the mouth of a fruit-jar, decanter, or vial, when made of the same material as the ve el itself, and having no name, as cork, bung, etc.; a stopple; specifically, a device for closing bottles for aërated water. See cut under siphon bottle. (c) A convenient utensil made of wood, bone, ivory, or the like, formerly used to compre or pack some loose or flocculent substance into small compa . I sold little bone "tobacco- stoppers "- they're seldom asked for now; stoppers is quite out of fashion. Mayhew , London Labour and London Poor, I. 490. (d) One who or that which brings to a stop or stand; specifically, one of the players in tennis, foot-ball, and other games, who stops the balls. Hall i well. (e) Naut., a piece of rope secured at one end to a bolt or the like, used to check the motion of another rope or of a cable. Stoppers for cables are of various construction, such as an iron clamp with a lever or screw, a claw of iron with a attached, etc. (f) In an organ, a wooden plug inserted in the tops of certain kinds of pipes, as in those of the stopped diapason, flute, bourdon, etc., whence they are called stopped pipes. Such pipes are tuned by means of the stopper. (g) In a vehicle, a bar of wood with iron points pivoted to the body, and allowed to trail on the ground behind to serve as a stop or brake in ascending steep grades. Such a device is used, for instance, on icecarts plying on hilly streets, where stoppages are frequent. 2. The upper pad or principal callosity of the sole of a dog's foot. The leg, or bones below the knee [of the greyhound], should be of good size, the stopper (or upper pad) well united to it, and firm in texture. Dogs of Great Britain and America , p. 45. 3. A small tree of one of four species of the genus Eugenia occurring in Florida. Of the species E. buxifolia is the gurge on or Spanish stopper, E. monticola is the white stopper, and E. procera is the red stopper. The last is somewhat abundant, and has a very heavy, hard, strong, and close-grained wood of a light yellowish-brown color, likely to be valuable for cabinetmaking and coarse engraving. The remaining species so called is E. longipes, a rare tree bearing a small red fruit with the flavor of cranberries. All except the last are found also in the West Indies. Sargent. Cat-head stopper. See cat -head. - Spanish stopper. See def. 3. (See also fighting - stopper.) stopper (stop'er), v. t. [ 3. Naut., to secure with a stopper or stoppers.To stopper a cable, to put stoppers on a cable to prevent it from running out of the ship when riding at anchor. Naut., a large stopper-bolt (stop'er-bolt), n. ring-bolt driven into the deck before the main hatch, etc., for securing the stoppers. stopper-hole (stop'er-hol), n. In iron-puddling. a hole in the door of the furnace through which the metal is stirred. See cut under puddling furnace.