Sentence:  Their walk had continued not more than ten minutes when they crossed a creek by a wooden bridge and came to a row of mean houses standing flush with the street. At the door of one, an old black woman had <WSD>stooped</WSD> to lift a large basket, piled high with laundered clothes. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To bend the upper part of the body forward and downward to a half-squatting position; crouch.