▪ I. hoop, n.1
(huːp)
Forms: 2 hóp, 2–5 hop, 4–6 hope, 5 north. hupe, 5–7 hoope, 6– hoop, (6 howp(e, howpp, whop(e, whoope, 6–7 houpe).
[Late OE. hóp = OFris. hôp, MDu. hoop, houp, hoep, Du. hoep:—OTeut. type *hôpo-z; but not known outside the Low German-Frisian group.]
1. a. A circular band or ring of metal, wood, or other stiff material; esp. a circle of wood or flattened metal for binding together the staves of casks, tubs, etc.
| a 1175 Hist. Holy Rood (E.E.T.S.) 22 Ða het he wurcean ænne seolfrene hop of þrittiᵹæ pundon..swa fela seolfrenæ hopæ. 1398 Trevisa Barth. de P.R. xvii. clxxiv. (1495) 716 Bendes and knyttynges made to bynde vp vynes and hopes for tonnes. 1417 Durham MS. Almoner's Roll, In j pari molarum cum hopys et rynd⁓spindellis. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 245/2 Hoope, vesselle byndynge (K. hope). 1485 Ripon Ch. Acts (Surtees) 373, ij hupes pro rota plaustri. 1522 Churchw. Acc. St. Giles, Reading 17 Paid for a whope of Iron to the shafts of the churche gate iijd. 1555 Eden Decades 28 The hoopes of his barrels cracked and brake. 1592 Warner Alb. Eng. viii. xlii. (1612) 202 A Stoole halfe backed with a houpe. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 174 This cap..is hollow..being borne up by little hoopes, and so cooles the head. 1750 Johnson Rambler No. 51 ¶12 A vessel of gooseberry wine had burst the hoops. 1851 Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 971 Model of a hoop for a mast, for the boom to work in, instead of a ‘goose-neck’. 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts III. 244 The pieces of buhr-stones..are bound with iron hoops into large millstones. 1885 Act 48 & 49 Vict. c. 70 §9 Barrels made..with such hoops as may be approved by the Fishery Board. |
| fig. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. iii. 63 The friends thou hast, and their adoption tride, Grapple them to thy Soule, with hoopes of Steele. 1606 ― Ant. & Cl. ii. ii. 117 What Hoope should hold vs staunch from edge to edge A th' world. |
b. In tavern signs: see
cock-a-hoop,
note.
| 1403 Add. Charter 5313 Br. Mus., [A messuage called] the belle on the hoop. 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 31 The hert of the hop [sign of inn at Bury]. 1631 Deed (in J. Coleman's Bk. Catal. 1889), Two Inns in Shoreditch, one called the Cock and Hoope, the other the Holy Lambe. |
c. A circular ring, often with paper stretched over it, through which acrobats or performing animals leap. Also
fig.,
esp. in
phr. to go (or jump) through (the) hoop(s: to undergo an ordeal or trial. Similarly
to put through the hoop(s.
| 1793 in T. Frost Circus Life (1875) 43 Through the Hoop on Fire, fourteen feet high, by Mr. Porter and Mr. Ducrow. 1869 B. Clarke Crocker 88 When a rider..has been jumping through paper hoops held up at intervals round the ring. 1875 T. Frost Circus Life 185 All aspirants to saw-dust honours..are required to..hold hoops, balloons, banners, &c. 1914 W. W. Gibson Borderlands 55 Merry Andrew. I missed a hoop This afternoon... I've not missed A hoop since I was six. I'm forty-two. 1917 Wodehouse Man with Two Left Feet 192 It was his business to make money, and, when called upon, to jump through hoops and sham dead at the bidding of his wife and daughter Mae. 1919 ‘B. Cable’ Old Contempt. 209 Then Tommy Dodd got hold of his sergeant and ‘put him through the hoop’. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 120 Hoop, through the: up for punishment. 1926 Galsworthy Silver Spoon xi. 81 Let the papers jump through their hoops as much as they liked. 1930 M. Kennedy Fool of Family xxvii. 275 Disagreeable thoughts were going to assail him... If he had ever let them get hold of him he would never have got through his hoop. Ibid. xxx. 314 ‘Let's hide..upstairs...’ ‘No use. They'll all come up to look at Henry VIII's bed.’ ‘Oh, well. Then it's through the hoops.’ 1938 H. Nicolson Diary 7 Apr. (1966) 333, I come back to find that the F.A. Committee have put Paul through the hoops also, asking whether he is ‘pro-Chamberlain’ or ‘pro-Eden’. 1943 R. Chandler Lady in Lake (1944) xxxix. 205 She got the men that way, she could make them jump through hoops. 1958 Economist 1 Nov. 390/2 The most controversial new legislation may still be the bill which will oblige any British government to go through the parliamentary hoop when imposing certain economic controls. 1958 ‘A. Gilbert’ Death against Clock 139 He may have jumped through the hoop right away. 1969 Times 12 May 15/5 Their..irritations are put through nightly hoops. |
2. a. Applied to rings, bands, or loops, having similar uses (see
quots.); also to other contrivances for binding or confining, as ‘the enclosing case of a run of stones’ in a mill (Knight
Dict. Mech.).
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Hoops, the strong iron bindings of the anchor-stock to the shank, though square, are called hoops. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Hoop,..one of the rings to which the weather-leach of a fore-and-aft sail is bent, and by which it slides on the mast or stay as the sail is hoisted or lowered. |
b. A circular wooden frame in which a cheese is moulded.
| [1790 W. H. Marshall Rural Econ. Midl. Counties I. 349 The cheese vats of this district are merely ‘hoops’ of ash, with a boarden bottom.] 1857 Trans. Ill. Agric. Soc. II. 181 These vats warm, scald, and work the curd ready for the hoop without being removed. 1877 Rep. Vermont Board Agric. IV. 54 Most of the cheese made about here was bought and shipped almost as soon as it was out of the hoops. 1951 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. VII. 156/1 The curd..is ‘milled’ or torn into small particles, mixed with salt, and packed into a hoop or mould. |
3. A circle of wood or iron (
orig. a barrel-hoop), which is trundled along as a plaything by children.
| 1792 M. Wollstonecraft Rights Wom. iv. 150 When they ought to have been spinning a top, or twirling a hoop. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. iv. iv. §4 Trundling the hoop is a pastime of uncertain origin, but much in practice at present. 1848 Dickens Dombey xviii, The rosy children..run past with hoops. |
† 4. One of the bands at equal intervals on a quart pot; hence, the quantity of liquor contained between two of these.
Obs.| 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse (ed. 2) 23 b, I beleeue hoopes in quart pots were inuented to that ende, that euery man should take his hoope, and no more. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. ii. 72 The three hoop'd pot shall haue ten hoopes, and I wil make it Fellony to drink small Beere. 1609 Dekker Gvll's Horne-bk. 28 (N.) The Englishman's healths, his hoops, cans, half-cans [etc.]. |
5. a. A measure of corn, etc. of varying capacity. Now
local.
| 1520 Whitinton Vulg. (1527) 12 b, A mette or an hoope of oote mele. 1548 Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 35 A busshelle and a whop of lyme. 1606 Holland Sueton. Annot. 4 Denosmodios, in round reckoning may goe for ten peckes or hoopes with vs. 1654 Manch. Crt. Leet Rec. (1887) IV. 129 The Jury Amerce John Maulton for a halfe hoope and a Peck vnd{supr} measure. 1674 Ray N.C. Words 26 A Hoop, a Measure containing a Peck or Quarter of a Strike. Yorksh. 1810 W. Davies Agric. N. Wales xvii. §2. 466 In Montgomeryshire, a cylindrical vessel, containing 20 quarts, is called a hoop; two of such hoops make a strike or measure. 1845 Petrie Eccl. Archit. Irel. 222 A hoop [i.e. a quarter of a peck] was sold for no less than five groates. |
b. A short metal cylinder used as a shape for a cake.
| 1741 Compl. Fam. Piece i. ii. 193 Butter your Hoop, and let it stand 3 Hours in a moderate Oven. |
6. A circle of flexible elastic material, as whalebone or steel, used to expand the skirt of a woman's dress; hence, the structure consisting of such hoops connected by some material, worn under a petticoat or skirt; a hoop-petticoat or -skirt.
Such a structure has appeared, with modifications, in the farthingale of the 16th–17th c., the extravagant hoop-skirt of the 18th, and the crinoline of the 19th.
| 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 67 b, Eight ladies in blacke velvet bordred about with gold, with hoopes from the wast downeward, and sleves ruffed. 1550 Crowley Epigr. 1318 Wyth whoopes at the skyrte. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 168 Women weare long fardingales..like hoopes, which our Women used of olde. 1717 Prior Alma ii. 277 The swelling hoop sustains The rich brocade. 1738–9 Mrs. Delany in Life & Corr. (1861) II. 25 The fashionable hoops are made of the richest damask, trimmed with gold and silver, fourteen guineas a hoop. 1754 Connoisseur No. 36 ¶3 The hoop... At present it is nearly of an oval form, and scarce measures from end to end above twice the length of the wearer. 1800 M. Edgeworth Belinda (1832) I. v. 98 Everybody wears hoops, but..'tis a melancholy consideration—how very few can manage them. 1812 Byron Waltz xiii, Hoops are no more, and petticoats not much. 1842 Tennyson Talking Oak xvi, In teacup-times of hood and hoop, Or while the patch was worn. 1878 Mrs. Oliphant Dress iv. 54 The hoop proper was not so abrupt as the farthingale, and the crinoline was greatly softened from the hoop. |
7. A finger-ring.
| 1507 Will of Oppy (Somerset Ho.), My hoope of gold made like a crown of thorn. 1520 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 117 My howpe of golde that I were on my finger. 1530 Palsgr. 233/1 Houpe a greate ryng, signet. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. v. i. 147 A hoope of Gold, a paltry Ring. 1668 Davenant Man's the Master ii. i. Wks. 1874 V. 41, I know but one hoop in the world can bind us close together... A wedding-ring. 1857 C. Kingsley Two Years Ago II. vi. 226 She drew off a diamond hoop, and put it quietly into his hand. 1926 J. Black You can't Win xv. 199, I go in her joint and drop a hoop to one of her frowsy little brums for nine dollars. 1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 67 Hoop, ring. |
8. a. Any hoop-like or circular structure, conformation, or figure; a circle, ring, arc.
| 1530 Palsgr. 233/1 Houpe of a beestes fote, corne. 1570 B. Googe Pop. Kingd. ii. 25 b, Scarce an ynche brode hoope of heare, about their pate appeares. 1684 T. Burnet Th. Earth i. 169 Saturn is remarkable for his hoop or ring, which seems to stand off from his body. 1719 D'Urfey Pills (1872) III. 315 His Knights around his Table in a Circle sate, d'ye see, And altogether made up one large Hoop of Chivalry. 1893 McCarthy Red Diamonds II. 41 Specimens of almost every herb under the hoop of heaven. |
b. Bot. Applied to the overlapping edge of one of the valves of the frustule of the
Diatomaceæ; called also the ‘girdle’.
| 1884 Challenger Reports, Botany II. 3 These walls..are formed by two distinct plates or valves, each possessing its own hoop..This hoop, connecting zone or belt, may be single, double, or of complex structure. |
c. U.S. Basketball. The (rim of the) basket. Also, a goal scored by throwing the ball through the basket.
| 1893 in Z. Hollander Mod. Encycl. Basketball (1969) 8 The baskets are strong iron hoops, with braided cord netting. 1937 F. C. Allen Better Basketball ii. 29 (heading) Standardized basketball nomenclature... Baskets—not Buckets,..hoops, nets, or strings. 1967 Boston (Mass.) Herald 1 Apr. 17/1 Jim Small scored the first hoop of the game. 1969 Z. Hollander Mod. Encycl. Basketball xvii. 419 He drove for the hoop and tried to make contact while making the basket. |
d. A band in contrasting colour on a jockey's blouse, sleeves, or cap. So
hooped a.| 1898 Dorling's List Epsom Races 27 May 1/3 Rose hoops, rose cap..black hooped sleeves. 1961 F. C. Avis Sportsman's Gloss. 228/2 Hoops, narrow bands of white or coloured silks going round the jockey's blouse; also known as Rings. 1970 Accent June 35/1 Wives try to get colours as close to those of their husbands... The Duchess of Devonshire's silks are straw with a brown hoop on the cap. Ibid. 35/2 (caption) Maroon hooped sleeves. |
e. Austral. A jockey.
| 1941 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 36 Hoop, a jockey. 1957 ‘N. Culotta’ They're Weird Mob (1958) v. 72 Best hoop in the country. 1963 Sunday Mirror (Sydney) 20 Jan. 43/1 Glamour hoop Athol Mulley in the saddle. 1967 E. McGirr Hearse with Horses ii. 33 Old Paddy was not a great deal more successful as a trainer than I was as a hoop. |
9. A hoop- or ring-net.
| 1882 Standard 26 Sept. 2/2 They [whelks] are also caught in nets called ‘hoops’ or ‘rings’. |
10. One of the iron arches used in croquet.
| 1872 R. C. A. Prior Croquet 56 Hoop is now an established term, but is a wrong name for the arches set up on a croquet lawn. 1874 J. D. Heath Croquet Player 17 The setting or arrangement of the hoops. |
† 11. The semicircular part of the spur which clasps the boot.
Obs.| 1620 Shelton Quix. (1746) III. xiv. 93 Jagging his Spurs into his Horse to the very Hoops. |
† 12. pl. A canopy stretched upon hoops.
Obs.| c 1520 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 206 Item pro howpps pro sacrament ad summum altare, 1½d. |
13. attrib. and
Comb. a. General, as
hoop-bender,
hoop-dancer,
hoop-girdle,
hoop-maker,
hoop-mill,
hoop-roller,
hoop-stuff;
hoop-crimping,
hoop-dressing,
hoop-fellied,
hoop-horned,
hoop-ribbed,
hoop-riving,
hoop-spined,
hoop-splaying, etc.,
adjs. Also
hoop-petticoat, -stick.
| 1858 Greener Gunnery 99 In the *hoop-and-stave wrought iron gun. |
| 1812 Examiner 7 Dec. 777/1 W. Rumsey,..*hoop bender. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Hoop-crimping Machine, one for giving the bend to hoop-stuff to render the hoops tractable in fitting to barrels and casks. |
| 1800 Sporting Mag. XV. 28 His most Christian Majesty was attended by several devils, *hoop-dancers and banner-bearers. |
| 1799 Ibid. XIV. 28 *Hoop-fellied wheels. |
| 1607 Dekker Knt.'s Conjur. (1842) 74 A streame..claspts it round about like a *hoope girdle of christall. |
| 1626 Canterb. Marriage Licences (MS.), Robert Claringbole of Barham, *hoopemaker. |
| 1832 in Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 366 Beautiful cattle..*hoop-ribbed, square hipped. |
| 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 339 The *hoop-rollers are represented in fig. 351; the bar⁓rollers in fig. 352. 1884 B'ham Daily Post 28 July 3/4 Wanted, a thoroughly experienced..Hoop Roller. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Hoop Splaying and Bending Machine, a machine for spreading hoop-iron on one side so as to enable it to set snugly on the bilge. |
b. Special combs.:
hoop-ash, (
a) a species of ash,
Fraxinus sambucifolia, the flexible stems of which are used for making hoops; (
b) the American Hackberry,
Celtis occidentalis (Craig 1847);
hoop-back, (a chair with) a hooped back; also
attrib. in
hoop-back chair;
hoop-bee, a burrowing bee of the genus
Eucera;
† hoop-caul, the chorion or outermost membrane enveloping the fœtus before birth;
† hoop-coat,
= hoop-petticoat;
hoop-cramp, ‘a ring-clutch for holding the ends of a hoop which are lapped over each other’ (Knight
Dict. Mech.);
hoop-driver, a tool or machine by which the hoops of a cask are driven on;
hoop-iron, (
a) flat thin bar-iron of which hoops are made; (
b) the iron rod with which a child's hoop is trundled;
hoop-lock, a mode of connecting the ends of a wooden hoop by interlocking notches; also one of the notches themselves;
† hoop-man, an acrobat who performs with hoops;
hoop-net, a fishing-net, butterfly-net, etc. held open by a hoop or ring at its mouth;
hoop-pine, the Moreton Bay Pine (
Araucaria Cunninghamii) of eastern Australia (Morris);
hoop-pole, a smooth straight sapling of green wood for making hoops;
hoop-ring, a ring consisting of a plain band; also, a finger-ring encircled with stones in a cut-down setting;
hoop-shave, a kind of spoke-shave for dressing hoop-stuff;
hoop-shaver, (
a) one who dresses wood for hoops; (
b) a name given to a species of wood-boring bees;
hoop-shell, a shell of the genus
Trochus, a top-shell;
hoop-skirt = hoop-petticoat; also
fig.;
† hoop-sleeve, a wide full sleeve, as though expanded by hoops;
hoop-snake, a non-venomous American snake,
Farancia abacura, popularly believed to roll like a hoop;
= horn-snake (b)
s.v.
horn n. 30;
hoop stress, the stress in a cylinder or in a spherical shell corresponding to the hoop tension;
hoop tension, the circumferential tension in a transverse section of a cylinder or in a spherical shell subjected to radial pressure;
hoop-tree, a semi-tropical low tree,
Melia sempervirens (Miller 1884);
† hoop-wheel, the detent-wheel of a clock;
hoop-withe,
-withy, a plant of the genus
Rivina (Craig 1847); also
Colubrina asiatica (Miller 1884);
hoop-wood, a tree yielding wood suitable for making hoops; in Jamaica
Calliandra latifolia; in
U.S. the Hoop-ash; the black ash,
Fraxinus nigra, or the winterberry,
Ilex lævigata; in Jamaica,
Zygia latifolia.
| 1763 *Hoop ash [see buck-eye 1]. 1832 D. J. Browne Silva Amer. 133 On the Ohio it is called Hoop Ash and in Kentucky, Hack Berry. 1864 Chambers's Encycl. VI. 727 Another American species, Celtis crassifolia, often called Hackberry or Hagberry, and Hoop Ash. |
| 1905 P. Macquoid Hist. Eng. Furnit. II. viii. 198 Early *hoop-back chairs..were slow in obtaining favour. 1924 Macquoid & Edwards Dict. Eng. Furnit. I. 244 The tall back is reminiscent of early eighteenth century walnut chairs... A deliberate attempt at Oriental effect may be seen in..the shaping of the hoop-back. 1934 Burlington Mag. Nov. 204/1 The chair..has a splat formed of framework..the uprights continue in the top-rail so as to form a fine ‘hoop-back’. 1935 [see comb-back s.v. comb n.1 9]. 1952 J. Gloag Short Dict. Furnit. 506 The two main types of design in Windsor chairs are: the comb back and the hoop back... In the latter, the back is shaped like a bow, into which the spindles are socketed. |
| 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde (1564) 34 b, Chorion or the *hoope cal. |
| 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 511 A quantity of *hoop-iron and rivets. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Hoop-iron,..a child's toy for trundling a hoop. |
| a 1668 Davenant Play-House i. Dram. Wks. 1873 IV. 24 Rich jugglers..*hoop-men, And so many tom-tumblers. |
| 1481–90 Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 192 [The] netter..had sent home..ij. *hopenettes, prise viij. d. 1880 Huxley Crayfish i. 11 Hoop-nets baited with frogs are let down into the water. |
| 1884 A. Nilson Timber Trees N.S.W. xv. 33 (heading) Araucaria. (Natural Order Coniferae.)..A. Cunninghamii.—Moreton Bay Pine; Colonial Pine; *Hoop Pine.— A noble tree with a pyramidal or somewhat flattened head. 1920 B. Cronin Timber Wolves i. 21 Well, what wood are they using for their matches now? I'll tell you. Their substitute is Queensland hoop pine, and I ain't heard any complaints yet. 1956 M. West Gallows on Sand xv. 153, I showed her the great hoop-pines, whose seeds had been carried by birds from the mainland [of Australia]. 1969 T. H. Everett Living Trees of World 25/1 Another Australian species is the Richmond-river-pine or hoop-pine (A. cunninghamii), the latter name deriving from its bark, which has horizontal cracks in encircling bands. |
| 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 247 Used for hop-poles, *hoop-poles, hurdles, faggots, and charcoal. |
| 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 39 It is compassed with this wrapper, as with a broode *hoope-ryng. 1629 Massinger Picture ii. ii, Good madam, what shall he do with a hoopring, And a spark of diamond in it? 1798 Jane Austen Northang. Abb. (1833) I. xv. 99 She saw herself with..a brilliant exhibition of hoop rings on her finger. |
| 1885 St. James's Gaz. 2 Jan. 6/2 The long-bladed *hoop-shave, with the double handle. |
| 1688 Lond. Gaz. No. 2318/4 A Man of about 30 years old..by Trade a *Hoopshaver, or Lathrender. 1771 G. White Obs. Insects in Selborne (1875) 348 It strips off the pubes, shaving it bare with the dexterity of a hoop-shaver. 1864–5 Wood Homes without H. viii. (1868) 180 One of the wood-boring bees..We will call it the Hoop-shaver. |
| 1857 Underhill & Thompson Elephant Club 193 Lady with *hoop-skirt hails the driver. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1118/2 The modern hoop-skirt is formed of braid-covered flat steel-wire hoops, united by tapes and shaped upon a former. 1892 A. E. Lee Hist. Columbus (Ohio) I. 735 The hoop-skirt gradually waned until the opposite extreme was reached. 1896 Emporia (Kan.) Gaz. 15 Aug., We have raked the old ash heap of failure..and found an old human hoop skirt who has failed as a business man. 1906 Springfield Weekly Republ. 19 July 1 Populism was a ‘hoopskirt’ article of statesmanship. 1916 E. Pound Lustra 54 You're a very depleted fashion, A hoop-skirt, a calash. |
| a 1613 Overbury Char., Lawyer Wks. (1856) 85 Next tearme he walkes his *hoopsleeve gowne to the hall. |
| 1784 J. F. D. Smyth Tour in U.S. I. 265 From the above circumstance, peculiar to themselves, they have also derived the appellation of *hoop snakes. 1840 Southern Lit. Messenger VI. 380/2, I never believed in the existence of hoop-snakes neither, until I went out into the western country. 1937 A. H. Verrill Strange Reptiles ii. 7 Thousands of otherwise intelligent and educated persons believe in the mythical ‘hoop snake’ which is supposed to take its tail in its mouth and roll like a hoop with incredible speed. 1956 C. H. Pope Reptile World 156 Tens of thousands of country people see hoop snakes rolling about like hoops, but these snakes quickly stop rolling and crawl when a herpetologist looms in sight. |
| 1909 Webster, *Hoop stress. 1930 Engineering 23 May 679/2 S is the apparent hoop stress. 1966 C. C. Barnes Power Cables (ed. 2) xii. 179 The maximum pressure in the cable is therefore dictated by the hoop stress developed in the sheath. 1973 Sci. Amer. Dec. 18/1 The tensile strength must be sufficient to withstand the ‘hoop stress’ resulting from centrifugal forces, otherwise the [fly]wheel would fly apart. |
| 1896 *Hoop tension [see stress n. 5 c]. 1902 Kynoch Jrnl. Oct.–Nov. 17/1 Since the ratio of the inner to outer radius is now 1·595, the hoop tension at the inner surface = 62·8 tons. 1950 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LIV. 133 The earliest specimens of these [parachutes]..took account of ‘hoop tensions’, ‘pressure across the fabric’, etc. |
| 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn., Detent-Wheel, or *Hoop-Wheel in a Clock, is that which has a Hoop almost round it, wherein there is a Vacancy at which the Clock locks. |
| 1756 P. Browne Jamaica 279 Horse-wood, or *Hoop-wood, the wood is pretty tough, and sometimes cut for hoops. 1770 G. Washington Writ. (1889) II. 302, I marked two maples, an elm, and hoop-wood tree..I also marked..an ash and hoop-wood. 1821 J. Fowler Jrnl. (1898) 21 We get out at our ushal time; at ten miles pased a point of Rocks and a Hoop wood tree on them. 1908 N. L. Britton N. Amer. Trees 622 Winterberry—Ilex lævigata..is also called the Smooth winterberry and Hoopwood. 1920 Fawcett & Rendle Flora of Jamaica IV. 150 (heading) Z[ygia] latifolia..Horse wood, hoop wood. |
▸
U.S. colloq. In
sing. and
pl. The game of basketball.
Cf. sense 8c.
| 1922 Woodland (Calif.) Daily Democrat 20 Dec. 5/2 (headline) Woodland-Sacramento Legion to play hoop... Basketball players of the Oregon Agricultural School will appear at the state armory against the American Legion basketball team. 1977 J. Sayles Union Dues xxiv. 277 Shooting a righteous game of hoop just when the sport was swinging into popularity didn't hurt any. 1991 Sports Illustr. 4 Mar. 79/1 Rosen loves hoops with the single-mindedness that some aging men have for young women. 1999 N.Y. Times Mag. 22 Aug. 46/2 With the blessing of the King [of Bhutan]—who has had videotapes of N.B.A. games shipped to him from New York for the past several years—hoop is huge in Thimphu. |
▪ II. hoop, n.2 Also 4
houp, 6
howp.
[f. hoop v.2 Cf. hoop int., whoop n. and int., F. houp int.] 1. A cry or call of ‘hoop’; a whoop.
| 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 167 Whan þei hurden [h]is houp, hastiliche aftur A lud to a litil boot lepus in haste. 1673 S. Parker Reproof Rehears. Transp. 26 (R.) You have run them all down with hoops and hola's. 1791 ‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsem. xvii. (1809) 135 His shouts..much resembled the war-hoops of the Indians. 1879 R. H. Elliot Writ. on Foreheads II. 6 The hoop-hoop-hoop of the large black-bodied, grey-bearded monkey. |
2. The sonorous inspiration characteristic of hooping-cough. (Quot. 1538 is uncertain.)
| [1538 Bale Thre Lawes 195 For noyaunce of the howp, For easement of your toth.] 1811 Hooper Med. Dict. s.v. Pertussis, The cough..is attended with a peculiar sound, which has been called a hoop. 1871 G. H. Napheys Prev. & Cure Dis. ii. i. 370 The long, jerking cough, interspersed with a loud, sucking, drawing in of the air, known as the ‘hoop’, is known to every mother. |
▪ III. hoop, n.3 Forms: 5
huppe, 6
hupe,
houupe, 6–7
houpe,
hoope, 7
oope,
whoope, 7–8
houp, 7–
hoop.
[a. F. huppe (12th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), in Cotgr. hupe, upe ‘a little woollen thread, or tuft in the top of a cap; also, the crest, or cop on the head of a bird; also, the Whoope or dunghill Cocke’:—pop. L. ūpupa, for upupa hoopoe.] † 1. The
hoopoe. (Formerly identified or confused with the lapwing on account of its crest.)
Obs.| 1481 Caxton Myrr. ii. xvi. 102 The huppe or lapwynche is a byrd crested, whiche is moche in mareys & fylthes. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Hupe, a bird called a Houpe. 1599 Minsheu Sp. Dict., Abubilla, a bird called a Hoope. Some thinke it to be the Lapwing. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 287 The Houpe or Vpupa..is a nasty and filthy bird..but a goodly faire crest or comb it hath. 1607 Barley-Breake (1877) 32 Rookes, Pies, and Oopes. 1666 J. Davies Hist. Caribby Isls 92 That Bird which the Latines call Upupa, the English a Whoope. a 1682 Sir T. Browne Tracts (1684) 106 When Tereus was turned into an Upupa, or Hoopebird. 1708 Ockley Saracens (1848) 495 Solomon and the Queen of Sheba..had a bird called Hudhud (that is, the ‘houp’) who was the messenger of their amours. |
2. A local name for the Bullfinch.
[It is not certain that this is the same word:
cf. the names
alp2, olph,
nope (
= an
ope).]
| 1798 F. Leighton MS. Let. to J. Boucher 11 May (Shropsh. Words), A Bullfinch—near Bath it is called a Hoop: in Norfolk an Olph. 1845 P. Parley's Ann. VI. 36 [The bullfinch] in some places..is called the Thickbill, the nope, and the hoop. It has a wild hooping note. 1848 Zoologist VI. 2290 The bullfinch is in G[loucestershire] a ‘hoop’. |
▪ IV. hoop, v.1 [f. hoop n.1] 1. trans. To bind or fasten round with a hoop or hoops; to confine with hoops.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 245/2 Hoopyn, or settyn hoopys on a vesselle. 1531–2 Act 23 Hen. VIII, c. 4 §10 Euery bere brewer may kepe..coupers, to hoope and amende his barrelles. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. v. Wks. 1856 I. 65 And twere not hoopt with steele, my brest wold break. 1674 tr. Martiniere's Voy. N. Countries 18 A Tub of Wood, hoop'd about with Iron..in which we were let down into the Mine. 1693 R. Gould Corrupt. Times by Money 26 Tho your Tomb be hoop'd with Lead. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. vi. iii. (1849) 327 The music of a cooper hooping a flour-barrel. 1887 Hall Caine Deemster xxx. 195 The smith was hooping a cart-wheel. |
2. transf. and
fig. To surround or confine as with a hoop; to encircle, embrace; to bind together or unite, as the staves of a tub.
| a 1541 Wyatt Of meane Estate 77 in Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 87 Although thy head were hoopt with golde. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 450 If euer henceforth, thou..hope his body more, with thy embraces. 1690 Leybourn Curs. Math. 457 An Island is a part of the Earth..hoopt as it were with a watery Girdle. 1821 T. Jefferson Autobiog. Writ. 1892 I. 107 During the war of Independence, while the pressure of an external enemy hooped us together. |
▪ V. hoop, v.2 Also 4
howpe,
hope, 4–7
houpe, 6
hoope.
[a. F. houpe-r (in 12th c. huper), f. houp, imitative of the cry: see hoop n.2 ? Cf. OE. hwópan to threaten, OHG., Goth. hwôpan to boast, from which some derive the Fr. vb. whoop (q.v.) is a later spelling, after who: cf. whole.] 1. intr. To utter a hoop; to whoop.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 159 Pers..hoped [B. vi. 174 houped; v.r. howpede] aftur hunger þo þat herde him atte furste. c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 580 Ther-with-al they shriked and they howped. a 1553 Udall Royster D. ii. i. (Arb.) 32 The howlet out of an yuie bushe should hoope. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 21 Ecchoes, answering one another..when a man doth holla or houpe among them. 1664 G. Etherege Love in Tub i. ii, You..hoop'd and hollow'd like madmen, and roar'd out in the streets. 1771 E. Griffith tr. Viaud's Shipwreck 226, I intreated them to hoop and halloo..in hopes she might be able to hear. 1845 A. M. Hall Whiteboy iv. 30 [He was] hooping and jumping like a half maniac. |
† b. hoop and hide: the game hide-and-seek.
| 1710–11 Swift Tatler 27 Jan. ¶6 You played at Hoope and Hide with my Brother in the Garret. |
† 2. To shout with astonishment.
Obs.| 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, ii. ii. 108 Working so grossely..That admiration did not hoope at them. 1600 ― A.Y.L. iii. ii. 203 O wonderfull, and most wonderfull wonderfull, and yet againe wonderful, and after that out of all hooping. |
3. To make the sonorous inspiration characteristic of hooping-cough.
| 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 452 note, Dr. Gregory knew a lady who never hooped in the disease, but instead of doing so always fainted. |
† 4. trans. To greet with a ‘hoop’.
Obs. rare.
| 1781 W. Blane Ess. Hunting (1788) 122 Having met and hooped her, she [the hare] has redoubled back..and leaped off into some hedge. |
b. hoop out: to drive out with derisive cries.
| 1607 Shakes. Cor. iv. v. 84 By th' voyce of Slaues to be Hoop'd out of Rome. |
▪ VI. hoop, int. [Cf. hoop v.2] = whoop.
| 1709 Steele Tatler No. 2 ¶2 Hey! Hoop! d'ye hear my damn'd obstrep'rous Spouse! 1792 Hohoop [see ho int.1 5]. |
▪ VII. hoop(e obs. ff.
hope;
var. hoppe, boll of flax.