roper

1. (dated) A ropemaker (a maker of ropes).Examples: "But Gideon Giles was no common man, although a roper."; "A roper's wife, for instance, was able to fool her incredibly gullible husband while having an affair with a prior literally right under the roper's nose, the guilty pair having sex while they lay together in the same bed as the sleeping roper."dated

2. (slang) Synonym of outside man (“accomplice who locates a mark to be swindled by a confidence trickster”).Examples: "The "roper" will inform the mark that such horses can't be picked out of the Form; what one needs is inside information."; "Here's how it usually goes: You're forced to rely on the only tow truck driver in the entire county, who turns out to be a roper for the local inbred family of serial killers."; "For example, one person may have a specialty in cooling off the mark, while another is able to lure in the mark with ease; these people may be referred to as the “roper” or the “outside man”."Synonyms: outside manslang

3. (slang) An undercover informer.Examples: "Supposing in a plant on a job a roper roped a man, who was, let us say, employed by the company, and maybe a member of the union, how much would he get after he was roped?"; "Such an operative might also be the contact for one or more "missionaries" or labour spies. The roper who was sent for was Louis M. Wendell."; "By 1876, however, he was well launched on a career as a professional informer, or “roper,” for the Secret Service."slang

4. (gaming) Any of a variety of monsters with tentacles that they use to capture victims.Examples: "The party ran into a statue of a roper, which somehow attacked them."; "Stone ropers are distant relatives of the common roper though the two races are do not (as far as sages know) associate with one another."; "I understand this to mean that passive Wisdom (Perception)—and even Searching—will never reveal a roper for what it is as long as it holds still. Its Stealth skill comes into play only if it's moving. Thus, a stationary roper takes its opponents by surprise, as long as its eye is closed and its tendrils retracted until it strikes."