Obs. Forms: 1, 5 loppe, 7 lop. [OE. loppe wk. fem., of obscure origin. Cf. LOB sb.1] A spider.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xvi. § 2. ʓe furþum þeos lytle loppe hine [sc. man] hwilum deadne ʓedeþ.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gloss., in Wr.-Wülcker, 121/27. Loppe, fleonde næddre, uel attorcoppe.
c. 1391. Chaucer, Astrol., I. § 3. Shapen in manere of a net or of a webbe of a loppe. Ibid., § 19. From this senyth ther come a maner krokede strikes like to the clawes of a loppe.
c. 1400. Ragman Roll, 72, in Hazlitt, E. P. P., I. 72. Ye lade longe sydyde as a loppe.