hoop

[hoop, hoo p]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hoop ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

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

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

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

the shank of a finger ring.

Croquet. a wicket.

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

hoop skirt.

Basketball Informal.

the metal ring from which the net is suspended; rim.
the metal ring and net taken together; the basket.
the game of basketball.

a decorative band, as around a mug or cup.

hoop iron.

verb (used with object)

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

to encircle; surround.

Origin of hoop

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

Related formshoop·less, adjectivehoop·like, adjectiveun·hooped, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for hoop

basket, rim, band, circle, loop, circlet, net

Examples from the Web for hoop

Contemporary Examples of hoop

Hoop skirts of the Civil War era relaxed into flowing, streamlined gowns.
The Best-Dressed Way to Say Goodbye
Justin Jones
October 21, 2014
Directed by fellow Chicagoan Steve James ( Hoop Dreams), Life Itself is a worthy tribute to the most popular film critic ever.
My Friend, Roger Ebert: Pulitzer Prize Winner Tom Shales on the Moving Documentary ‘Life Itself’
Tom Shales
July 6, 2014
She sits polished in a hip yet age-appropriate (age-defying, really, for 76 ) leather jacket, and hoop earrings.
Marlo Thomas Says Girls Should Feel Free to Be Like Hannah Horvath
Emily Shire
April 24, 2014
Then the second hoop is the profession, then industry, then finally society at large.
Following Tuberculosis From Death Sentence to Cure
Tessa Miller
April 16, 2014
Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel first championed my film, Hoop Dreams, which was essential to its success.
‘Life Itself’: An Open Letter From Filmmaker Steve James About His Roger Ebert Documentary
Steve James
December 12, 2013

Historical Examples of hoop

Nor did her hips want the assistance of a hoop to extend them.
Joseph Andrews Vol. 1
Henry Fielding
In the south, too, hoop iron or whalebone is used for runner shoeing.
The Long Labrador Trail
Dillon Wallace
Put it into your hoop, and leave it in the oven an hour and a quarter.
The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory;
Charlotte Campbell Bury
The Iroquois had shields of hide stretched on hoop for defensive armor.
Harper's Young People, July 6, 1880
Various
The blacksmith was swinging along the road, with a hoop over his shoulder.
The Shadow of a Crime
Hall Caine

British Dictionary definitions for hoop

hoop

noun

a rigid circular band of metal or wood

something resembling this

a band of iron that holds the staves of a barrel or cask together
(as modifier)hoop iron

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

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

a light curved frame to spread out a skirt
(as modifier)a hoop skirt; a hoop petticoat

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

a large ring through which performers or animals jump

jewellery

an earring consisting of one or more circles of metal, plastic, etc
the part of a finger ring through which the finger fits

Australian informal a jockey

go through the hoop or be put through the hoop to be subjected to an ordeal

verb

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

Derived Formshooped, adjectivehooplike, adjective

Word Origin for hoop

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

hoop

noun, verb

a variant spelling of whoop

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hoop

late 12c., probably from an unrecorded Old English *hop, from Proto-Germanic *hopa-, a Low German-Frisian word (cf. Old Frisian hop, Middle Dutch and Dutch hoep "hoop," Old Norse hop "a small bay"). As something someone jumps through (on horseback) as a circus trick, by 1793. Figurative use of jump through hoops by 1917. The verb is from mid-15c. Hoop-petticoat is attested from 1711. As a surname, Hooper, literally "maker of hoops" is early 13c.

Idioms and Phrases with hoop

hoop

see jump through hoops.