To cut off or cut away branches or parts of something, especially in a rough or careless manner.
From Middle English 'lop,' possibly from Old Norse 'loppa' (to leap) or Scandinavian sources. The sense evolution moved from 'leaping' or 'hanging down' to cutting down branches that hang. Related to 'lope' and 'lopping'.
When gardeners 'lop off' diseased branches, they're using one of the oldest horticultural tricks—removing infected growth to prevent spread—and this principle is so fundamental that modern medicine borrowed the concept for 'amputation' as a last-resort treatment.
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