Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

stope

American  
[stohp] / stoʊp /

noun

  1. any excavation made in a mine, especially from a steeply inclined vein, to remove the ore that has been rendered accessible by the shafts and drifts.


verb (used with or without object)

stoped, stoping
  1. to mine or work by stopes.

stope British  
/ stəʊp /

noun

  1. a steplike excavation made in a mine to extract ore

"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

verb

  1. to mine (ore, etc) by cutting stopes

"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

Etymology

Origin of stope

1740–50; apparently < Low German stope; see stoop 2

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:

We need to stope mistaking success for heroism.

From New York Times Oct. 21, 2017

At the end of this walk he went down another three hundred feet, to where a new stope was being started.

From Westward with the Prince of Wales by Newton, W. Douglas (Wilfrid Douglas)

If it bursts up in the air the stope roof'll be down on us.

From The La Chance Mine Mystery by Gage, George W.

And I blinked as I went out of the white November sunshine into Macartney's new tunnel, and the candlelight of his humming stope.

From The La Chance Mine Mystery by Gage, George W.

I was in Thompson's abandoned stope all right,—only Macartney had sealed up the only way I could ever get out!

From The La Chance Mine Mystery by Gage, George W.

All major Russian airlines have since stoped flying west beyond neighboring Belarus.

From New York Times Mar. 22, 2022

The Swiss-based group, which has already stoped all advertising in Russia, added it will continue supplying essential food products in the country.

From Reuters Mar. 9, 2022

“We have our hostages, testing, research and all missle launches have stoped, and these pundits, who have called me wrong from the beginning, have nothing else they can say! We will be fine!”

From Washington Post Jun. 11, 2018

In his three starts, he has stoped 83 of the 86 shots he has faced, including 37 against the high-powered Washington Capitals.

From New York Times Dec. 8, 2015

Charlie begun to get scat for feer he wood bust. bimeby he stoped eating becaus he coodent hold enny moar. he had et all but about 4 quats.

From Brite and Fair by Brehm, Worth

This is not only a problem of stoping the spread or locking away the offenders but a societal problem of how we as a society play a roll in incubating this evil.

From New York Times Nov. 9, 2019

"Let me be clear: I have consistently called on white males like me to step, take responsibility, and be a part of stoping the sexism and bigotry that other white males engage in," Avenatti wrote.

From Fox News Oct. 25, 2018

More often than not, such a ploy was successful in stoping City, and therein lies the challenge this season – can they find an effective plan B, particularly when Kaka is missing?

From The Guardian Apr. 4, 2016

As discussed already, plutons can interact with the rocks into which they are intruded, sometimes leading to partial melting of the country rock or to stoping and formation of xenoliths.

From Textbooks Jan. 1, 2015

Even in deposits of about normal stoping width, it is impossible to prevent the breaking of a certain amount of waste, even if the ore occurrence is regularly confined by walls.

From Principles of Mining Valuation, Organization and Administration by Hoover, Herbert

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training