stirrup
Americannoun
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stirrups
plural
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a loop, ring, or other contrivance of metal, wood, leather, etc., suspended from the saddle of a horse to support the rider's foot.
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any of various similar supports or clamps used for special purposes.
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Nautical. a short rope with an eye at the end hung from a yard to support a footrope, the footrope being rove through the eye.
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Also called binder. (in reinforced-concrete constructions) a U -shaped or W -shaped bent rod for supporting longitudinal reinforcing rods.
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Anatomy. stapes.
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a strap of fabric or elastic at the bottom of a pair of pants, worn around and under the foot.
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(used with a plural verb) stirrups, close-fitting knit pants with such straps.
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noun
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Also called: stirrup iron. either of two metal loops on a riding saddle, with a flat footpiece through which a rider puts his foot for support. They are attached to the saddle by stirrup leathers
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a U-shaped support or clamp made of metal, wood, leather, etc
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nautical one of a set of ropes fastened to a yard at one end and having a thimble at the other through which a footrope is rove for support
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the usual US name for étrier
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of stirrup
before 1000; Middle English; Old English stigrāp ( stige ascent + rāp rope ); cognate with German Stegreif
Vocabulary lists containing stirrup
Chinese History - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
But one boot has slipped from its stirrup.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
At the farm, he leaves a foot between rows of Allium to allow for easy weeding with the six-inch blade of a stirrup hoe.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 31, 2024
The aptly named stapes looks very much like a stirrup.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Kelly Forman said she became a recluse after suffering a spinal injury and brain damage in a June 2011 fall after Mark Henkin fitted her horse with a defective stirrup.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 13, 2018
He began putting his weight in a stirrup when Gabilan was saddled, but he didn’t throw his leg over the pony’s back.
From "The Red Pony" by John Steinbeck
"Ultimately, technology emerging from Mongolia has, through a domino effect, ended up shaping the horse culture that we have in America today, especially our traditions of saddlery and stirrups," Taylor said.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 12, 2023
Her clinic has three patient beds and a birthing room with a bare mattress, stirrups and a single IV pole.
From Salon ● Feb. 27, 2023
One piece, a more than 150-year-old Native American women’s saddle from the Crow tribe, features elaborate beadwork on the stirrups and around the seat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 16, 2022
For the biopsy, she was placed in stirrups and given a spinal epidural to numb the area.
From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2022
Also present are gunpowder, the clock, silk weaving, distillation and the saddle with stirrups.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
