stoop
pronunciation
How to pronounce stoop in British English:
UK [stuːp]
How to pronounce stoop in American English:
US [stuːp]
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- Noun:
- an inclination of the top half of the body forward and downward
- basin for holy water
- small porch or set of steps at the front entrance of a house
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- Verb:
- bend one's back forward from the waist on down
- debase oneself morally, act in an undignified, unworthy, or dishonorable way
- descend swiftly, as if on prey
- sag, bend, bend over or down
- carry oneself, often habitually, with head, shoulders, and upper back bent forward
Word Origin
- stoop
- stoop: see steep
- stoop (v.)
- "bend forward," Old English stupian "to bow, bend," from Proto-Germanic *stup- (cognates: Middle Dutch stupen "to bow, bend," Norwegian stupa "fall, drop"), from PIE *(s)teu- (1) "to push, stick, knock, beat" (see steep (adj.)). Figurative sense of "condescend," especially expressing a lowering of the moral self, is from 1570s. Sense of "swoop" is first recorded 1570s in falconry. Related: Stooped; stooping. The noun meaning "an act of stooping" is from c. 1300. Stoop-shouldered attested from 1773.
- stoop (n.)
- "raised open platform at the entrance of a house," 1755, American and Canadian, from Dutch stoep "flight of steps, doorstep, threshold," from Middle Dutch, from Proto-Germanic *stap- "step" (see step (v.)). This, unlike most of the words received [in American English] from the Dutch, has extended, in consequence of the uniform style of building that prevails throughout the country, beyond the bounds of New York State, as far as the backwoods of Canada. [Bartlett] Also in South African English as stoep.
Example
- 1. How could anyone stoop so low ?
- 2. When the keepers of the house tremble , and the strong men stoop , when the grinders cease because they are few , and those looking through the windows grow dim ;
- 3. When they arrived she struggled out to her stoop to say a blessing over them .
- 4. Your spine is strong and stable when you practice healthy posture . But when you stoop or slouch your muscles and ligaments struggle to keep you balanced - which can lead to fatigue back pain headaches and other problems .
- 5. If cole and bryant stood at the lofty peak of the 19th-century new york art world , then the anonymous immigrants represented in the brooklyn museum 's fragment collection were artists of the stoop , transforming middle - and working-class neighborhoods into vibrant public art galleries .