Possibly from the phraseneck and crop, in whichcrop may refer to the backside of a horse.
comeacropper (third-person singular simple presentcomes a cropper,present participlecoming a cropper,simple pastcame a cropper,past participlecome a cropper)
- (originally) Tofallheadlong from ahorse.
- (British,idiomatic) Tosuffer some accident ormisfortune; tofail.
Shecame a cropper on the stairs and broke her leg.
1879,Anthony Trollope, chapter 67, inThe Duke's Children:I should feel certain that I shouldcome a cropper, but still I'd try it. As you say, a fellow should try.
1951 March, “Chess Caviar”, inChess Review:We are accustomed to seeing Morphy conquer brilliantly against great odds; but this time hecomes a cropper.
1953, Mervyn Peake,Mr Pye, William Heinemann:You tried to convey too much and you conveyed nothing. Youcame a cropper, major.
2022 May 14, “Tech bubbles are bursting all over the place”, inThe Economist[1],→ISSN:Although they were meant to reach the Moon no matter what, cryptocurrencies are alsocoming a cropper.
- (informal) Todie.
1920,Agatha Christie,The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published1954, page 8:“No, Cynthia is a protégée of my mother’s, the daughter of an old schoolfellow of hers, who married a rascally solicitor. Hecame a cropper, and the girl was left an orphan and penniless. My mother came to the rescue, and Cynthia has been with us nearly two years now.”
