hippern.
/ˈhɪpə/, U.S. /ˈhɪpər/, Australian English /ˈhɪpə/ Australian. Now rare.
A pad of soft material used to protect the hip of a person sleeping on the ground or other hard surface. Also: a shallow hollow dug in the ground to accommodate the hip while sleeping; a hip-hole (hip-hole n. at hip n.1 Compounds 5a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [noun] > made for hip
hipper1867
hip-hole1900
1867 Empire (Sydney) 1 May 5/6 They scramble for any old sheepskins..which they use as ‘hippers’ to ward off the hardness of the boards from their bones.
1875 R. Bruce Dingoes 134 Feather beds as aids to sleep By none are here possessed; And he is lucky who obtains One sheepskin for a hipper.
1934 Bulletin (Sydney) 26 Sept. 20/3 A tired man usually contents himself with a ground-sheet and blanket after digging himself a ‘hipper’—a small cavity to accommodate his hips.
1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. 106 The hipper, something soft—such as a piece of possum skin or a stuffed strip of bagging—to put under the hip when lying on hard ground.
1969 R. Ottley Bates Family 23 Each had three empty wheat sacks, sewn together for a ‘hipper’, spread on the ground underneath them.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1867