Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To dip or duck.
  • noun Cape brandy of a peculiarly fiery type. Also called cape smoke.
  • noun In diamond-cutting, the instrument into which the diamond to be polished is soldered by means of a fusible metal.
  • noun A diving bird; a diver.
  • noun A very low bow.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A little copper cup in which a diamond is held while being cut.
  • noun obsolete A dip; a low courtesy.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To dip.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun South Africa, slang . A drink.
  • noun South Africa, slang An imprecise measure of alcohol; a dash.
  • noun obsolete A dip; a low courtesy.
  • noun A little copper cup in which a diamond is held while being cut.
  • verb South Africa, slang To fail or to plug (an examination, standard or grade)
  • verb South Africa, slang To drink alcohol.
  • adjective US, slang Small zippered toiletries - used with kit.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

unknown

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Examples

  • The polisher fixes the cut stone firmly in a metallic holder called a dop, which is cleverly designed to hold the stone with much of one side of it exposed.

    A Text-Book of Precious Stones for Jewelers and the Gem-Loving Public Frank Bertram Wade

  • He undertook to ensure that the government moved faster in the next five years on issues such as housing, education and the removal of the "dop" - system whereby farmworkers were paid in alcohol instead of wages.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1999

  • In the so-called dop system, laborers were paid partly with a daily quotient of cheap wine.

    NYT > Home Page By BARRY BEARAK 2011

  • Though "dop" payments were banned in the 1920s, the system carried on in many rural zones until apartheid ended in 1994.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2007

  • South Africa's problem is probably the result of the Cape wineland's historical "dop" (drink) system which involved the payment of farm workers with alcohol instead of wages.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2005

  • Even though the "dop" system was outlawed in the 1960s, many believe it entrenched a culture of alcohol abuse that still exists today, with FAS as one of the consequences.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2005

  • This included the ground-breaking code of conduct launched last year, which committed Agri-Western Cape's 4000 members to empowering workers, eliminating the 'dop' system, supporting a broad process of land reform, and promoting partnerships with new and emerging farmers.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2002

  • On the "dop" system, which has been a persistent problem in the

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2001

  • Organised agriculture in the Western Cape on Tuesday launched a code of conduct committing farmers to promoting "decent livelihoods" for their workers and eliminating the "dop" system.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2001

  • Professor Leslie London of the University of Cape Town's department of community health told the committee that Dopstop, a non-governmental project aimed at tackling the illegal "dop" system and fighting alcohol abuse, was turned down when it applied for funding from the KWV wine trust fund.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2000

Comments

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  • Type of wax that holds a stone onto a dop stick.

    July 22, 2008