What does mop mean?
A mop is a long-handled cleaning tool whose absorbent strands or threads are used to wash floors and other hard surfaces. In everyday use, the word is especially associated with wet cleaning: someone dips a mop in a bucket of water, wrings it out, and moves it across the floor. As a verb, to mop means to clean with this implement, as in “mop the kitchen floor.” The related phrase “mop up” means to wipe away or absorb liquid, and can therefore refer to dealing with a spill rather than using a traditional mop. The word is familiar in both British and American English. Although it has a straightforward meaning, it is useful in describing the practical activity of washing floors and the broader process of removing moisture, dirt, or spilled liquid from a surface.
A cleaning implement with a long handle and absorbent strands or threads, used for washing floors and similar surfaces.
"The janitor left a mop beside the bucket in the utility closet."
The plural is “mops.” In British English, “mop” may also refer more broadly to a cleaning implement for washing floors.
To clean a surface with a mop, especially by washing it with a wet mop.
"They mopped the hallway after the delivery spilled liquid across it."
The past tense is “mopped” and the present participle is “mopping.” “Mop up” can also mean to absorb or remove spilled liquid.
The plural is used for multiple cleaning implements.
"Two mops stood in the bucket beside the cleaning supplies."
A mop turns a floor into a puzzle: its strands collect the dirt that a flat cloth often leaves behind.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does mop come from?
The English word is believed to have developed from Dutch moppen, meaning “to rub” or “wipe,” with the cleaning implement developing from the verb. The word entered English during the early modern period and became established both for the act of wiping and for the tool used to wash floors. Its precise earliest history is not entirely certain, and no especially clear modern cognates are commonly used in English.
Related word forms
How mop is actually used
As a verb, mop commonly takes an object such as a floor, room, or surface. The phrase mop up means to absorb or remove liquid, and is often used with spillages.
Easily confused with mop
A mop is used for cleaning, while to mope means to look or behave sadly and gloomily.