Word: hoop Part of Speech: noun Etymology: 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. Pronunciation: /huːp/, /hʊp/ 1. A circular band of metal used to bind a barrel. Labels: countable, uncountable 2. Any circular band or ring. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: the cheese hoop, or cylinder in which the curd is pressed in making cheese Example: gymnastic hoop 3. A circular band of metal, wood, or similar material used for forming part of a framework such as an awning or tent. Labels: countable, uncountable 4. 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. Labels: countable, historical, uncountable Example: He took the removed chair and drew it so near mine, squatting in it with his ugly weight, that he pressed upon my hoop. Example: The door of the room now flew open, and, after pushing in her hoop sideways before her, entered Lady Bellaston, who having first made a very low courtesy to Mrs Fitzpatrick, and as low a one to Mr Jones, was ushered to the upper end of the room. 5. 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. Labels: countable, uncountable 6. An old measure of capacity, variously estimated at from one to four pecks. Labels: UK, countable, obsolete, uncountable 7. The rim part of a basketball net. Labels: countable, uncountable 8. The game of basketball. Labels: US, countable, in-plural, metonymically, uncountable Example: 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. A hoop earring. Labels: countable, uncountable 10. A horizontal stripe on the jersey. Labels: countable, plural-normally, uncountable Example: 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. Example: Tipperary v Clare: IF ANYTHING can relight the fire of the old Clare hurling passion it’s the sight of the blue jersey with the gold hoop. 11. A jockey. Labels: Australia, broadly, countable, metonymically, slang, uncountable Example: The stewards ordered Des Coleman, the senior hoop (jockey) present, to ride and he got the horse home in a photo-finish. 12. An obstacle that must be overcome in order to proceed. Labels: countable, figuratively, plural-normally, uncountable Example: But if they want to export that, then they do have to go through several hoops that you will impose upon them. Example: Windows forces you to jump through several hoops before allowing you to delete a partition — and for good reason. 13. Hooping (manipulation of and artistic movement or dancing with a hoop). Labels: uncountable 14. A significant amount of swing from the bowler. Labels: slang, uncountable 15. An apparatus. Labels: countable 16. An apparatus. Labels: countable, metonymically, uncountable