I. ˈhu̇p, -ü- noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English hop, hoop, from Old English hōp; akin to Old Frisian hōp ring, band, Middle Dutch hoep ring, band, hoop, Lithuanian kabė hook, and perhaps to Old Irish camm crooked — more at change
1.
a. : a strip of wood or metal bent in a circular form and united at the ends that is used especially for holding together the staves of containers (as casks, tubs, barrels) — see barrel illustration
b. : such a hoop or a substitute used as a plaything — compare hula hoop
2. : something felt to resemble a hoop : a circular figure or object especially when serving or viewed as a retaining band : ring , circlet : as
a. : finger ring
b. : either or both members of an embroidery hoop
c. : one of the cylindrical forgings that are concentric with the tube and that are shrunk in rows upon the tube, jacket, or inner layer in the construction of a built-up gun
d. : cheese hoop
e. : a large circle of light material usually supporting a sheet of paper through which performers leap in various spectacular shows (as in a circus)
f. : a piece of cane looped at one end for handing messages to the crew of a moving railroad train
g. : the rim of a basketball basket ; broadly : the entire basket
3. : a circle or series of graduated circles of whalebone, metal, or other flexible material inserted into a petticoat or joined by tapes and used to expand a woman's skirt
wore hoops under ruffled white mull
4.
a. dialect England : an old unit of capacity (as for grain) varying from 1/4 peck to 4 pecks
b. obsolete : the quantity of drink contained between adjacent hoops of a hooped quart pot
5. hoops plural : light strip steel folded up like a skein of wool into lengths of 14 feet
6. : a croquet wicket
7. : a shoulder yoke used for carrying loads
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English hoopen, from hop, hoop, n.
transitive verb
1.
a. : to bind, enclose, or fasten (as a barrel) with hoops
b. : clasp , enclose , surround
2.
a. : to place on or in a hoop
hooping her embroidery
hoop curds in the making of cheese
b. : to score at basketball
hooped 5 points to win the game
3. : to give the form of a hoop or partial hoop to
a measuring worm hooping his back
hooped the backs of the chairs in a graceful arch
intransitive verb
1. : to assume the form of a hoop or partial hoop
the cat's back hooped under his hand
2. : to keep a hula hoop revolving about the body
III. ˈhüp, -u̇-
archaic
variant of whoop
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French huppe, from Latin upupa, of imitative origin like Greek epop-, epops hoopoe, German dial huppupp
obsolete : hoopoe
V. noun
: basketball 1
college hoop
a hoop fan
— usually used in plural