stopper

noun stoppers

1. Someone or something that stops something. “It just shows you what women are like. A frightful sex, Bertie. There ought to be a law. I hope to live to see the day when women are no longer allowed.” “That would rather put a stopper on keeping the human race going, wouldn't it?” “Well, who wants to keep the human race going?”
2. A type of knot at the end of a rope, to prevent it from unravelling. Put a stopper in the knot.
3. A bung or cork. We need a stopper or the boat will sink.

   Similar: plug

4. informal Goalkeeper. He's the number one stopper in the country.
5. slang In the commodity futures market, someone who is long (owns) a futures contract and is demanding delivery because they want to take possession of the deliverable commodity. Cattle futures: spillover momentum plus evidence of a strong stopper (i.e., 96 loads demanded) should kick the opening higher.
6. A train that calls at all or almost all stations between its origin and destination, including very small ones. The local train was empty at midday. She changed at Yatton and caught a stopper into Bristol. There was an express calling at Exeter which left Bristol at twelve-forty-five and she caught it by the skin of her teeth.
7. Any of several trees of the genus Eugenia, found in Florida and the West Indies. Red Stopper. Leaves ovate-oblong, contracted at the apex into long points, coriaceous. Eugenia Garber
8. A short rope for making something fast.
9. A playspot where water flows back on itself, creating a retentive feature.

Similar: local, stopping train · Opposite: fast, express

verb stoppers · stoppering · stoppered

1. To close a container by using a stopper. He tightly stoppered the decanter, thinking the expensive liqueur had been evaporating.