on the hop

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on the hop

phrase

Ireland, slang Playing truant from school. Judy: A couple of times I went on the hop.
Spontaneous; unplanned. It is hard to tell whether or not Putin had decided his plan for Ukraine months ago, or whether he has been making plans on the hop, but it was certainly clear that the decision on recognition had been taken well before this strange, stage-managed event.
Unprepared; unready and unable to deal with something. "Tough," said Peter. "Very tough. I have a chance if I can keep him on the hop till his weight and short wind come against him—in this hot sun too. To tell the truth, I haven't much chance else. […]"

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MLA

"on the hop." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/on%20the%20hop. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

on the hop. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/on%20the%20hop

Chicago

"on the hop." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/on%20the%20hop.

BibTeX

@misc{on_the_hop_2026,
  title = {on the hop},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/on%20the%20hop},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}