[f. LOPE v. + -ER1.]
† 1. A leaper, dancer. Obs.
1483. Cath. Angl., 220/2. A Loper, saltator, saltatrix.
2. Ropemaking. A swivel upon which yarns are hooked at one end while being twisted into cordage. [Perh. another word, a. Du. looper runner.]
1794. Rigging & Seamanship, 55. Loper, used to lay lines, has two iron swivel-hooks at each end, for the line to hang on.
1797. Encycl. Brit., XVI. 485/1. [Rope-making] This is put on one of the hooks of a swivel called the loper.
3. Cabinet-making. (See quot.)
1833. Loudon, Encycl. Cottage Archit., 302. In the second [bureau bookcase], the sloping flap falls down, and rests on two sliding pieces, technically called lopers.
