"gapper" - Word of the Day from the OED

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gapper, n.

DRAFT ENTRY Mar. 2009

Brit. /gap/, U.S. /gæpr/  [< GAP n.¹+ -ER suffix¹.] 

    1. a. Hort. A plant suitable for filling a gap between other plants. Also: a device for automatically regulating the space between crops during planting.

1929 Nurseryman & Seedsman 9 May 19/2 (advt.) Quicks! Quicks!! Quicks!!.. Extra strong gappers, 7s 6d. 100. 1945 Times 17 Sept. 6/7 Labour on hoeing has been cut down and could be saved further by the use of mechanical gappers and cross blocking with row-crop equipment to keep hand work at a minimum. 1988 J. A. R. LOCKHART & A. J. L. WISEMAN Introd. Crop Husbandry (ed. 6) iv. 126/1 Mechanical singling, with an electronically-automated gapper, using a detector probe to spray out unwanted plants, is being looked at again.

    b. Baseball. A ball hit into a space between outfielders.

1970 Daily Courier (Connellsville, Pa.) 13 Aug. 7/8 Osler lined a gapper into right-center that chased home two runs. 1982 Daily Intelligencer (Doylestown, Pa) 3 June 19A/2 In the fifth, with Bob Derner on via a walk, he smacked a gapper for an RBI double. 2005 M. SHANNON Coming back to Baseball v. 87 John Stultz hit a gapper into right-center to drive in two runs.

    2. A person who takes a break from his or her career. Now usually (Brit.): a student taking a gap year.

1992 Associated Press Newswire (Nexis) 10 Jan., An economics professor..who first worked with Jacobsen when they were graduate students at Stanford University, said employers think ‘gappers’ are bad investments. 1994 Times 13 June 38/1 Voluntary work overseas is many people's ideal... Among the organisations which cater specifically for ‘gappers’ are Project Trust and GAP (Gap Activity Projects). 2003 J. BUTCHER Moralisation of Tourism i. 15 Travel visas for Australiaa favourite for gappershave more than doubled in the last five years.

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