Come a cropper

verb, slang

verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To fall headlong from a horse.
  2. 2
    To suffer some accident or misfortune; to fail. British, idiomatic

    "She came a cropper on the stairs and broke her leg."

  3. 3
    To die. informal

    "“No, Cynthia is a protégée of my mother’s, the daughter of an old schoolfellow of hers, who married a rascally solicitor. He came a cropper, and the girl was left an orphan and penniless. My mother came to the rescue, and Cynthia has been with us nearly two years now.”"

Example

More examples

"She came a cropper on the stairs and broke her leg."

Etymology

Possibly from the phrase neck and crop, in which crop may refer to the backside of a horse.