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hoop

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hoop¹

  • /huːp/
  • /hʊp/ US, regional

Rhymes with -uːp

Where it comes from

From Middle English hoop, hoope, from Old English hōp (“mound, raised land; in combination, circular object”), from Proto-Germanic *hōpą (“bend, bow, arch”) (compare Saterland Frisian Houp (“hoop”), Dutch hoep (“hoop”), Old Norse hóp (“bay, inlet”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kāb- (“to bend”) (compare Lithuanian kabė (“hook”), Old Church Slavonic кѫпъ (kǫpŭ, “hill, island”)). More at camp.

noun hoops

  1. countable, uncountable A circular band of metal used to bind a barrel.
  2. countable, uncountable Any circular band or ring. the cheese hoop, or cylinder in which the curd is pressed in making cheese
  3. countable, uncountable A circular band of metal, wood, or similar material used for forming part of a framework such as an awning or tent.
  4. countable, historical, uncountable A circle, or combination of circles, of thin whalebone, metal, or other elastic material, used for expanding the skirts of ladies' dresses; (hence, by extension) a hoop petticoat or hoop skirt. He took the removed chair and drew it so near mine, squatting in it with his ugly weight, that he pressed upon my hoop.
  5. countable, uncountable 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.
  6. UK, countable, obsolete, uncountable An old measure of capacity, variously estimated at from one to four pecks.
  7. countable, uncountable The rim part of a basketball net.
  8. US, countable, in plural, metonymically, uncountable The game of basketball. Articles ranging from Chris Johnson's "For Europeans, hoops is the second-most beautiful game" for The Globe and Mail to Adam Minter's "China Is Hoops Country" for Bloomberg Opinion have detailed the rise in basketball in a wide range of countries, including the most populous ones in the world.
  9. countable, uncountable A hoop earring.
  10. countable, plural normally, uncountable A horizontal stripe on the jersey. Porto are playing from right to left in blue and white stripes, blue shorts and blue socks. Celtic are in their usual green and white hoops, with white shorts and white socks.
  11. Australia, broadly, countable, metonymically, slang, uncountable A jockey. The stewards ordered Des Coleman, the senior hoop (jockey) present, to ride and he got the horse home in a photo-finish.
  12. countable, figuratively, plural normally, uncountable An obstacle that must be overcome in order to proceed. But if they want to export that, then they do have to go through several hoops that you will impose upon them.
  13. uncountable Hooping (manipulation of and artistic movement or dancing with a hoop).
  14. slang, uncountable A significant amount of swing from the bowler.
  15. countable An apparatus.
  16. countable, metonymically, uncountable An apparatus program with a hoop.

verb hoops · hooping · hooped

  1. transitive To bind or fasten using a hoop. to hoop a barrel or puncheon
  2. transitive To clasp; to encircle; to surround. [B]ehold the wretched price of Wales, / Hoopt with a bond of yron round about, […]
  3. intransitive, slang To play basketball. Osama shouldve hooped instead of tryna kill ppl cause he tall as hell!

hoop²

  • /huːp/
  • /hʊp/ US, regional

Rhymes with -uːp

Where it comes from

Onomatopoeic.

noun hoops

  1. A shout; a whoop, as in whooping cough.
  2. archaic The hoopoe.

verb hoops · hooping · hooped

  1. dated To utter a loud cry, or a sound imitative of the word, by way of call or pursuit; to shout.
  2. dated To whoop, as in whooping cough.

Hoop³

noun Hoops

  1. Someone connected with Queens Park Rangers Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.

Translations

Every language

noun circular band of metal used to bind a barrel

Españolaro, fleje, cincho, zuncho, cello
한국어테 te, 후프 hupeu
日本語箍 taga, フープ fūpu
中文箍 gū, 圈 quān
हिन्दीघेरा gherā
Portuguêsaro
Françaiscercle, cerceau
DeutschReif
Italianocerchio
Ελληνικάστεφάνη stefáni
Românăcerc
Русскийо́бруч óbruč
العربيةطَارَة ṭāra
עבריתחִשּׁוּק khashúk

noun circle used for expanding the skirts of ladies' dresses

DeutschReifrock

noun basketball: rim part of a basketball net

Españolaro

noun ''(in the plural)'' the game of basketball

Românăcoș

verb to fasten with a hoop

Românăfereca

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Cite this
MLA

"hoop." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hoop. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

hoop. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hoop

Chicago

"hoop." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hoop.

BibTeX
@misc{hoop_2026,
  title = {hoop},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hoop},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}