prop1

 
Pronunciation: /prɒp/

noun

  • 1a pole or beam used as a temporary support or to keep something in position: he looked around for a prop to pin the door open
  • a person or thing that is a major source of support or assistance: he found himself becoming the emotional prop of the marriage
  • Grammar a word used to fill a syntactic role without any specific meaning of its own, for example it in it is raining.
  • 2 (also prop forward) Rugby a forward at either end of the front row of a scrum.
  • 3chiefly Australian a sudden stop made by a horse moving at speed.

verb (props, propping, propped)

  • 1 [with object and adverbial of place] support or keep in position: she propped her chin in the palm of her right hand
  • lean (something) against something else: a jug of milk with a note propped against it she propped the picture up on the mantlepiece
  • use an object to keep (something) in position: he found that the door was propped open
  • 2 [no object] chiefly Australian (of a horse) come to a dead stop with the forelegs rigid.

Phrases

prop up the bar

informal spend a considerable time drinking in a pub: Keith was propping up the bar and waving a £10 note at the landlady

Phrasal Verbs

prop someone/thing up

support or assist someone or something that would otherwise fail or decline: the government spent £3 billion in an attempt to prop up the pound

Origin:

late Middle English: probably from Middle Dutch proppe 'support (for vines)'