Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A propeller.
  • noun Any of the articles other than costumes and scenery used by an actor or performer during a performance on stage or in a film.
  • noun Someone or something displayed to impress others or provide a false impression.
  • noun An object placed beneath or against a structure to keep it from falling or shaking; a support.
  • noun One that serves as a means of support or assistance.
  • transitive verb To support by placing something beneath or against; shore up.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A stick, staff, pole, rod, beam, or other rigid thing used to sustain an incumbent weight; that on which anything rests for support; a support; a stay; a fulcrum: usually applied to something not forming a part of the object supported: as, a prop for vines; a prop for an old wall.
  • noun In botany, same as fulcrum, 3.
  • noun plural Legs.
  • noun Synonyms See staff.
  • noun A shell used in the game of props. See props.
  • noun An unexpected stop, as of a horse.
  • To support or prevent from falling by placing something under or against: as, to prop a roof or wall.
  • To support by standing under or against: as, a pillar props a roof; beams prop a wall.
  • To support or sustain in a general sense: as, to prop a failing cause.
  • To help; assist.
  • To stop or pull up suddenly; balk: said of a horse or other beast.
  • noun An abbreviation of proposition; properly.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun That which sustains an incumbent weight; that on which anything rests or leans for support; a support; a stay.
  • noun A shell, used as a die. See props.
  • transitive verb To support, or prevent from falling, by placing something under or against; ; (Fig.) to sustain; to maintain.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun theater, film An item placed on a stage or set to create a scene or scenario in which actors perform. Contraction of "property".
  • noun A proposition, especially on an election-day ballot.
  • noun The propeller of an aircraft.
  • noun An object placed against or under another, to support it; anything that supports.
  • noun rugby The player who is next to the hooker in a scrum.
  • noun One of the seashells in the game of props.
  • verb transitive To support or shore up something.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a support placed beneath or against something to keep it from shaking or falling
  • noun any movable articles or objects used on the set of a play or movie
  • noun a propeller that rotates to push against air
  • verb support by placing against something solid or rigid

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Short for property.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English proppe, probably from Middle Dutch.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Abbreviation of property.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Abbreviation of proposition.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Abbreviation of propeller.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Akin to German Pfropfen and Danish proppe, compare Latin propago ("layer of a plant")

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