stoop
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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stoops,
present (3rd person singular)
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stooped,
past participle, past
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stooping
present participle
-
to bend the head and shoulders, or the body generally, forward and downward from an erect position.
to stoop over a desk.
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to carry the head and shoulders habitually bowed forward.
to stoop from age.
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(of trees, precipices, etc.) to bend, bow, or lean.
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to descend from one's level of dignity; condescend; deign.
Don't stoop to argue with him.
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to swoop down, as a hawk at prey.
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to submit; yield.
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Obsolete. to come down from a height.
verb (used with object)
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stoops,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stooped,
past participle, past
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stooping
present participle
-
to bend (oneself, one's head, etc.) forward and downward.
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Archaic. to abase, humble, or subdue.
noun
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the act or an instance of stooping.
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a stooping position or carriage of body.
The elderly man walked with a stoop.
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a descent from dignity or superiority.
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a downward swoop, as of a hawk.
noun
noun
verb
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(also tr) to bend (the body or the top half of the body) forward and downward
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to carry oneself with head and shoulders habitually bent forward
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(often foll by to) to abase or degrade oneself
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(often foll by to) to condescend; deign
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(of a bird of prey) to swoop down
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archaic to give in
noun
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the act, position, or characteristic of stooping
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a lowering from a position of dignity or superiority
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a downward swoop, esp of a bird of prey
noun
noun
noun
Synonym Usage
See bend 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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stoopernoun
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nonstoopingadjective
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stoopingadjective
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unstoopedadjective
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unstoopingadjective
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stoopinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stoopsimple
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stoopssimple
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have stoopedperfect
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has stoopedperfect
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am stoopingprogressive
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are stoopingprogressive
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is stoopingprogressive
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have been stoopingperfect progressive
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has been stoopingperfect progressive
Past
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stoopedsimple
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had stoopedperfect
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was stoopingprogressive
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were stoopingprogressive
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had been stoopingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stoop1
First recorded before 900; Middle English verb stoupen, stupen, Old English stūpian; cognate with Middle Dutch stūpen “to bend, bow”; akin to steep 1
Origin of stoop2
An Americanism dating back to 1670–80; from Dutch stoep; cognate with Middle Low German stōpe, German Stufe “step (in a stair)”; see step
Explanation
Stoop means to lean your head and torso forward and down. If you're six feet tall and you tour a historical building, you'll have to stoop to get through the low doorways. Stoop comes from the same root as steep. You can stoop to clear a doorway, or stoop metaphorically, by lowering your morals. If you slouch and droop, you are stooping. When owls quickly descend on their prey, that's also called stooping. Last but not least, a stoop refers to a small porch or the stairs leading up to a front entrance of a house, but that meaning is from the Dutch word stoep, "flight of steps, doorstep, or threshold."
Vocabulary lists containing stoop
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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:
Then I tossed them in a bag and set them at the bottom of the stoop.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Beetz stars as Asia, a young woman who turns up on the stoop of a high-end Manhattan apartment building, the Virgil, answering an ad for a maid job.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
Although it may seem naïve, on the surface, to stoop to such mundanity — a variation on our era’s “go outside and touch grass” naturalism — Styles may be genuinely onto something.
From Salon ● Mar. 6, 2026
We occasionally throw stoop parties that draw neighbors and strangers—a “free beer” sign and lawn chairs in our driveway won us new friends.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
It needed but a moment for her to stoop and pick the lovely thing up, but that brief pause brought him abreast of her.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
For the architects, the descending bleachers constitute a “reverse stoop,” another monumentalized form, this time of the brownstone stoops that are the front-row seats to Harlem’s street life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
When they headed south from Roberta’s apartment on Avenue C around 10, there were two-foot drifts against the side of stoops.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2024
She stoops to pluck weeds around delicate yellow flowers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2023
His previous stoops on the tour included Jordan and Iraq.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 8, 2023
People were sitting out on their fire escapes or on their front stoops trying to catch a breeze.
From "145th Street: Short Stories" by Walter Dean Myers
Ibrahim Said stooped to head in his first goal for the club before Elliott Watt capitalised on a mistake from Kasper Schmeichel.
From Barron's ● Dec. 30, 2025
The name "chikungunya" comes from the Kimakonde language, meaning "that which bends up," a reference to the stooped posture caused by the severe joint pain that often accompanies the infection.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2025
Time was running out when Dier stooped to nod a free-kick towards goal, but was instead kicked in the head by City substitute Nico Gonzalez.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2025
I stooped to embrace him and told him what I’d needed to hear as a boy.
From Slate ● Apr. 27, 2025
But in the center, leaning on Mr. Pinkerton’s arm, was a stooped man hobbling on a wooden cane.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
DNA is a snooty aristocrat, never stooping to engage in day-to-day tasks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
Yet Ballard's stooping header, to draw the hosts level 1-1 on the night, put them 3-2 up on aggregate with just seconds remaining.
From BBC ● May 13, 2025
Maybe stooping over a hot stove for hours to prepare a traditional Christmas dinner doesn’t quite put you in the holiday mood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2024
“We’re fortunate to live in New York, where stooping is a thing,” Slocum said.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
Sam saw that he could not go much further in this fashion, crawling, stooping, now picking a doubtful way very slowly, now hurrying at a stumbling run.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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.
