Prop Meaning
/pɹɒp/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounAn object placed against or under another, to support it; anything that supports.
nounThe player on either side of the hooker in a scrum.
Sentence Examples
He fetched a few cushions to prop up her head.
Could you prop up this mirror against that wall for me?
CEFR Practice Quiz
The leaning shelf needed a metal ____ to keep it from falling.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The actor used a rubber knife as a ____ during the stage fight scene in the second act.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English proppe (“a prop, support, support for a vine or plant”), from Middle Dutch proppe (“support, support for a vine, stopper for a bottle”). Compare Middle Low German proppe (“plug, stopper”), German Pfropfen (“plug”), Danish prop (“plug, stopper”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"You can use props in a literal way to enhance the story, such as shooting a woodworker amidst woodworking tools."
— 2006, Michael Grecco, Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait, Amphoto Books, →ISBN, page 109:
"John Aubrey Douglass, a senior research fellow at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at Berkeley, said that while he was not an insider on admissions practices, “my sense is that admissions is highly regulated and careful to stay clear of Prop 209 restrictions, and the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action.”"
— 2025 February 3, Anemona Hartocollis, “The University of California Increased Diversity. Now It’s Being Sued.”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Feb 2025:
"“Watch how totally dishonest the California Prop vote is!” Trump fumed on Truth Social over the weekend."
— 2025 October 27, Russell Berman, quoting Donald Trump, “‘California Is Allowed to Hit Back’”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2025:
"There was some good counter hits, and then Foster received a prop on the nose which drew the claret."
— 1899, Eden Phillpotts, The Human Boy Again:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The leaning shelf needed a metal ____ to keep it from falling.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The actor used a rubber knife as a ____ during the stage fight scene in the second act.