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Hula-Hoop
Hula-Hoopa brand name for a tubular plastic hoop, about 4 feet (1.2 meters) in diameter, for rotating about the body by swinging the hips, used for physical exercise or in children's play: introduced in the 1950s.
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Hula Hoop
Hula Hoopnouna light hoop that is whirled around the body by movements of the waist and hips
Hula-Hoop
Americannoun
Explanation
A hula-hoop is a toy — a plastic, circular tube you rotate around your body by circling your hips. Some experts can get several hula-hoops spinning at the same time. Twirling a hula-hoop around your waist is fun, and it's also good exercise. Hoops have been used as playthings for centuries, but the hula-hoop was invented in 1958. The toy made from plastic tubing was based on traditional hoops made of rattan or bamboo, and it was wildly popular. At one point, the manufacturer produced 50,000 hula-hoops a day. The word hula was used because the hip movements were seen as similar to the Hawaiian hula dance.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Our top five runners, we could’ve thrown a hula hoop around them,” he said.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 4, 2023
Dressed in green and playing with a hula hoop, she said: "The war came suddenly and we are afraid of it".
From Reuters • Oct. 10, 2023
She’d stand on the side of the road so traffic could see her and hula hoop her little heart out.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 19, 2023
However, the only reason James could pose and Westbrook could pretend to be a hula hoop during a 130-119 win was the biggest, baddest man of the night — and maybe in the NBA.
From Washington Post • Dec. 5, 2022
An old neon-green hula hoop hung from a wooden peg on the wall, a huge saint’s discarded halo.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.