1. One point-to-point transmission in a series required to get a message from point A to point B on a {store and forward} network. On such networks (including {UUCPNET} and FidoNet), an important inter-machine metric is the hop count of the shortest path between them. This can be more significant than their geographical separation. Each exclamation mark in a bang path represents one hop. 2. One direct host-to-host connection forming part of the route between two hosts in a routednetwork such as the Internet. Some protocols place an upper limit on the hop count in order to detect routing loops. 3. To log in to a remote computer, especially via rlogin or telnet. "I' ll hop over to foovax to FTP that." [Jargon File] (1997-06-25)
