(bridge) a playing card with a value sufficiently high to insure taking a trick in a particular suit; "if my partner has a spade stopper I can bid no trump"
close or secure with or as if with a stopper; "She stoppered the wine bottle"; "The mothers stoppered their babies' mouths with pacifiers"
a successful attempt at scoring; "the winning goal came with less than a minute left to play"
game equipment consisting of the place toward which players of a game try to advance a ball or puck in order to score points
the state of affairs that a plan is intended to achieve and that (when achieved) terminates behavior intended to achieve it; "the ends justify the means"