Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Hoop?

\Hoop\, n. [OE. hope; akin to D. hoep, hoepel.] 1. A pliant strip of wood or metal bent in a circular form, and united at the ends, for holding together the staves of casks, tubs, etc. 2. A ring; a circular band; anything resembling a hoop, as the cylinder (cheese hoop) in which the curd is pressed in making cheese. 3. A circle, or combination of circles, of thin whalebone, metal, or other elastic material, used for expanding the skirts of ladies' dresses; crinoline; -- used chiefly in the plural. Though stiff with hoops, and armed with ribs of whale. --Pope. 4. A quart pot; -- so called because originally bound with hoops, like a barrel. Also, a portion of the contents measured by the distance between the hoops. [Obs.] 5. An old measure of capacity, variously estimated at from one to four pecks. [Eng.] --Halliwell. {Bulge hoop}, {Chine hoop}, {Quarter hoop}, the hoop nearest the middle of a cask, that nearest the end, and the intermediate hoop between these two, respectively. {Flat hoop}, a wooden hoop dressed flat on both sides. {Half-round hoop}, a wooden hoop left rounding and undressed on the outside. {Hoop iron}, iron in thin narrow strips, used for making hoops. {Hoop lock}, the fastening for uniting the ends of wooden hoops by notching and interlocking them. {Hoop skirt}, a framework of hoops for expanding the skirts of a woman's dress; -- called also {hoop petticoat}. {Hoop snake} (Zo["o]l.), a harmless snake of the Southern United States ({Abaster erythrogrammus}); -- so called from the mistaken notion that it curves itself into a hoop, taking its tail into its mouth, and rolls along with great velocity. {Hoop tree} (Bot.), a small West Indian tree ({Melia sempervirens}), of the Mahogany family.
\Hoop\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Hooped}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Hooping}.] 1. To bind or fasten with hoops; as, to hoop a barrel or puncheon. 2. To clasp; to encircle; to surround. --Shak.
\Hoop\, v. i. [OE. houpen; cf. F. houper to hoop, to shout; -- a hunting term, prob. fr. houp, an interj. used in calling. Cf. {Whoop}.] 1. To utter a loud cry, or a sound imitative of the word, by way of call or pursuit; to shout. [Usually written {whoop}.] 2. To whoop, as in whooping cough. See {Whoop}. {Hooping cough}. (Med.) See {Whooping cough}.
\Hoop\, v. t. [Written also whoop.] 1. To drive or follow with a shout. ``To be hooped out of Rome.'' --Shak. 2. To call by a shout or peculiar cry.
\Hoop\, n. 1. A shout; a whoop, as in whooping cough. 2. (Zo["o]l.) The hoopoe. See {Hoopoe}.