ripper

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

ripper
    n 1: a murderer who slashes the victims with a knife; "Jack the
         Ripper was probably a madman"

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Ripler \Rip"ler\, Ripper \Rip"per\, n. [Cf. {Rip} a basket, or
   {Riparian}.] (O.E. Law)
   One who brings fish from the seacoast to markets in inland
   towns. [Obs.]
   [1913 Webster]

         But what's the action we are for now ?
         Robbing a ripper of his fish.            --Beau. & Fl.
   [1913 Webster] Ripost

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Ripper \Rip"per\, n.
   1. One who, or that which, rips; a ripping tool.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A tool for trimming the edges of roofing slates.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Anything huge, extreme, startling, etc. [Slang.]
      [1913 Webster] Ripper act

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

rip
ripper

   <audio, video, legal> (From "rip off" - to steal) To copy
   audio or video, typically from a {compact disc} or {DVD}, to a
   {file} on a {computer} {hard disk}.  A dedicated program to do
   this is called a "ripper" though it is often a function of
   player software.

   Ripping usually includes converting the data to a format that
   is more suitable for computer playback, e.g. {MP3} {digital
   audio} or {DivX} video.  The process is entirely digital so it
   is possible to make a perfect copy of the data.  However the
   resulting files are large (a few {megabytes} for an audio
   track, a few {gigabytes} for a film) so the conversion often
   includes {compression} to reduce the file size at the cost of
   some loss of quality.

   While it may be legal to do this for personal use,
   distributing a ripped copyright work to others could result in
   prosecution.

   See also {ripcording}.

   (2008-01-21)