sloop
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of sloop
1620–30; < Dutch sloep; akin to Old English slūpan to glide
Compare meaning
How does sloop compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A sailboat with one mast is known as a sloop. In general, sloops are known as speedy boats that are relatively simple to rig with sails. If you spot a sailboat with a single mast and two sails, it's almost certainly a sloop. Sloops come in many sizes, from small dinghies to 100-foot sailboats. What they have in common is the way they're rigged, or how their sails and masts are organized. A sloop's rigging is usually "fore and aft," with one sail in front of the mast and one behind it. The word sloop comes from the Middle Dutch slupen, "to glide."
Vocabulary lists containing sloop
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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This Side of Wild
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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
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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.
Look at him in the photograph here, circa 1977, the year he won the America’s Cup helming the 12-meter sloop, Courageous.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
Marks told Barron’s in 2021 that he owns a Danish-built sloop named Linnea that he had been fixing up for years, and sailed it in the Chesapeake Bay.
From Barron's • Oct. 7, 2025
Rubio’s 32-foot Westsail sloop, Malulani, departed Dec. 28 bound for Kaneohe, Oahu.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2024
Morford-Haines returned to Seattle from Alaska, bought a 25-foot sloop and taught herself to sail.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 4, 2023
The Tyroshi were notorious for their avarice, and Ser Rodrik had argued for hiring a fishing sloop out of the Three Sisters, but Catelyn had insisted on the galley.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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.
