rope
- 01 B1 Intermediate
n.a very strong, thick string made by twisting many smaller threads together.
n.heavy cordage consisting of twisted or braided strands of fiber, wire, or synthetic material.
Simple“The sailors used a thick rope to tie the boat to the wooden dock.”
In context“The climbers inspected every inch of the nylon rope for fraying before attempting the vertical ascent of the granite face.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
n.the use of a rope to execute someone by hanging.
n.metonymic use referring to execution by hanging or the gallows.
Simple“In the old stories, the thief was sentenced to the rope for his crimes.”
In context“The prisoner faced the rope with a stoic silence that unsettled even the most experienced guards at the prison.”
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a long, thin line of something that sticks together, like pearls or onions.
n.a cohesive strand or string of items connected together.
Simple“She wore a long rope of pearls that reached down to her waist.”
In context“The kitchen ceiling was decorated with dried herbs and several long ropes of garlic imported from the valley.”
- 04 B1 Intermediate
v.to tie something or someone using a rope.
v.to bind, fasten, or secure an object or person using cordage.
Simple“The workers roped the luggage to the top of the bus so it wouldn't fall.”
In context“The crew roped the heavy equipment to the deck to prevent it from shifting during the expected gale.”
- 05 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to catch an animal by throwing a circle of rope around it.
v.to capture or encircle an animal or object by throwing a lasso or lariat.
Simple“The cowboy roped the young calf quickly during the competition.”
In context“The rancher successfully roped the stray bull before it could break through the perimeter fence and vanish into the scrub.”
From Proto-Indo-European h₁roypnós (“strap, band, rope”), via Proto-Germanic raipaz, raipą (“rope, cord, band, ringlet”), to Old English rāp (“rope, cord, cable”), and thence to Middle English rop, rope. The root h₁reyp- (“to peel off, tear; border, edge, strip”) underpins the word’s semantic core, though the term’s journey through Germanic languages preserved its function rather than its etymological etymology.
Cognates include Scots rape, raip; Saterland Frisian Roop; West Frisian reap; Dutch roop, reep; German Low German Reep; Swedish rep; Danish reb; Icelandic reipi; and Albanian rrip. These variants, scattered across West Germanic and beyond, retain the noun’s ancient utility as a cord or strip, though the precise morphological path from *h₁roypnós to rāp remains unattested in detail.
From Middle English ropen, rop ("rope"), first attested as the compound for the action of forming ropes, tracing back to the noun rop meaning "rope".
From Middle English rop (“gut, intestine”), from Old English rop, ropp; compare Middle Dutch rop, ropp (“fish guts”). The modern pronunciation results from phonological assimilation to Etymology 1.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.