hoop

[hoop, hoop]

noun

1. a circular band or ring of metal, wood, or other stiff material.

2. such a band for holding together the staves of a cask, tub, etc.

3. a large ring of iron, wood, plastic, etc., used as a plaything for a child to roll along the ground.

4. a circular or ringlike object, part, figure, etc.

5. Jewelry.,  the shank of a finger ring.

6. Croquet.,  a wicket.

7. a circular band of stiff material used to expand and display a woman's skirt.

8. hoop skirt.

9. Basketball Informal.

   1. the metal ring from which the net is suspended; rim.

   2. the metal ring and net taken together; the basket.

   3. the game of basketball.

10. a decorative band, as around a mug or cup.

11. hoop iron.

verb (used with object)

1. to bind or fasten with or as if with a hoop or hoops.

2. to encircle; surround.

hoop

¹

/ huːp /

noun

1. a rigid circular band of metal or wood

2. something resembling this

3. 1. a band of iron that holds the staves of a barrel or cask together

   2. ( as modifier )

      hoop iron

4. a child's toy shaped like a hoop and rolled on the ground or whirled around the body

5. croquet any of the iron arches through which the ball is driven

6. 1. a light curved frame to spread out a skirt

   2. ( as modifier )

      a hoop skirt

      a hoop petticoat

7. basketball the round metal frame to which the net is attached to form the basket

8. a large ring through which performers or animals jump

9. jewellery

   1. an earring consisting of one or more circles of metal, plastic, etc

   2. the part of a finger ring through which the finger fits

10. informal,  a jockey

11. to be subjected to an ordeal

verb

1. (tr) to surround with or as if with a hoop

hoop

²

/ huːp /

noun

1. a variant spelling of whoop

Other Word Forms

• hoopless adjective
• hooplike adjective
• unhooped adjective
• hooped adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hoop¹

1125–75; Middle English hope, hoop, late Old English hōp; cognate with Dutch hoep

Word History and Origins

Origin of hoop¹

Old English hōp; related to Dutch hoep, Old Norse hōp bay, Lithuanian kabẽ hook

Idioms and Phrases

see jump through hoops.

Example Sentences

“With ‘Goon,’ he would have put pressure on himself” to jump through the hoops required of a performer, she says.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Expensive Basketball” is an encyclopedic romp through hoops history, footnotes strewn throughout like so many perimeter ball screens, threads blissfully unconnected.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Her latest role as Mary Todd Lincoln in “Oh, Mary!” presented a different challenge: screaming and running across a stage in a hoop skirt.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He found forward Ezra Ausar under the hoop for a dunk — and with the bucket, joined Daniel Hackett in the record books as the only other Trojan to accomplish the feat.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Within that well-worn dynamic, Davidson developed into one of the top women’s hoops prospects in the nation, all while she and her friends led Clackamas High on an unprecedented, four-year run of success.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• basket 
• rim