Obs. or dial. Forms: 5 cropoun, -on, -owne, -yn, crupoun, cruppon, crovpon, crowpon, -yn, 8 croppin, curpon, -en, -in. [a. OF. croupon, augm. or dim. of croupe, in OF. crupe, crope rump, rear-part: see CROUP1. The mod.Sc. form is curpon by metathesis of r.] The croup or rump of a horse or other animal; the buttocks or posteriors of the human body; transf. the hinder part of a thing; the crupper of the harness.

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[a. 1300.  Gloss Neckham, in Wright, Voc., 99. Clunes, crupuns.]

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c. 1400.  Ywaine & Gaw., 2468. Fro his [the giant’s] hals to his cropoun.

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c. 1400.  Maundev. (Roxb.), xxxi. 142. A faire beste … his crupoun and his taile er lyke to a hert.

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c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 105/1. Cropon’ of a beste, clunis.

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1483.  Cath. Angl., 85. A Crovpon [v.r. Cruppon], clunis.

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1722.  W. Hamilton, Wallace, 9 (Jam.). I’d gar their curpons crack.

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1725.  New Cant. Dict., Croppin, the Tail of any Thing; as, The Croppin of the Rotan [= Cart].

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1785.  Burns, Halloween, xviii. The graip he for a harrow taks, And haurls at his curpin.

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