propping

Verb (1)

prop (third-person singular simple present props, present participle propping, simple past and past participle propped)

1. (figuratively, sometimes, transitive) To support or shore up something.
   • Try using a phone book to prop up the table where the foot is missing.
2. (intransitive) To play rugby in the prop position.
3. (transitive, usually) To position the feet of (a person) while sitting, lying down, or reclining so that the knees are elevated at a higher level.
4. (Australia, New Zealand, intransitive) To stop suddenly or unexpectedly; derived from the situation where a horse might suddenly halt of its own accord, digging its front hooves into the ground to brace itself from forward movement, potentially unseating its rider.
5. (UK, obsolete, slang, transitive) To knock (a person) down.
   • We used to go out into the roads (highway robbery) between races, and if we met an ‘old bloke’ (man) we ‘propped him’ (knocked him down), and robbed him.1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861

Verb (2)

prop (third-person singular simple present props, present participle propping, simple past and past participle propped)

1. To manually start the engine of a propeller-driven aircraft with no electric starter by pulling vigorously on one of the propeller blades using the hands, so that the propeller can catch ignition.

See all 18 meanings of prop