▪ I. stirrup, n.
(ˈstɪrəp, ˈstɛrəp)
Forms: 1 stiᵹráp, st{iacu}ráp, 2–7 stirop, 3–5 stirap, 3–6 stirope, 4 stirhap, stroupe, 4–6 sterap, styrop(pe, 5 sterep, -opp, stiroppe, stirrap, storrope, styrope, -up, 5–6 sterop(pe, sturope, styrope, 5–7 sterope, 6 sterrep, stirepp, -hop, ip(p)e, stor(r)ap, -oppe, sturropp, styrrep(e, -op(p)e, -uppe, 6–7 styrrop, 6–8 stirrop, 7 sterrup, stiropp, stirropp(e, sturrop, styrrup, 7–8 stirup, 8 sterrop, 4– stirrup.
[OE. stiᵹráp, f. stiᵹ-e climb (f. wk. grade of st{iacu}ᵹan to climb: see sty v.) + ráp rope n. Cf. OS. stigerêp (MLG. stegerêp), MDu. stegereep (WFlem. steegreep stirrup-leather, stirrup), OHG. stegareif (MHG. stegereif, mod.G. stegreif), ON. stigreip.
As the etymology shows, the original ‘stirrup’ must have been a looped rope. In some of the continental Teut. langs. the word has been used for the stirrup-leather, the stirrup itself having a special name, MDu. böghel (Du. beugel, stijgbeugel), whence mod.G. bügel, steigbügel, Sw. stigbygel, Da. stigb{obar}ile.]
1. a. A contrivance suspended from the side of a saddle to serve as a support for the foot of the rider; in modern times, an arched piece of metal (rarely of wood, leather, etc.) closed by a flat plate to receive the sole of the boot.
to lose one's stirrups [= F. perdre les étriers]: to let one's feet accidentally slip out of the stirrups (for the figurative use see c).
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 120/2 Scansile, stirap. a 1100 Voc. ibid. 332/11 Scansile, stiᵹrap. c 1175 Soul & Body in Fragm. æ lfric's Gloss., etc. (1838) 6 On stirope stonden mid fotan. c 1290 Beket 248 in S. Eng. Leg. 113 His loreins weren al of seluer, stirapes and spores al-so. a 1320 Sir Tristr. 3261 His stirops he made him tine, To grounde he him wrong. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 190 He smote him in þe helm, bakward he bare his stroupe. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 143 The King, in full gret hy, Strak at the tothir wigorusly, That he eftir his sterap drew. c 1386 Chaucer Shipman's Prol. 1 Ovre Ost vppon his stiropes stood anoon And seide good men herkeneth euerychoon. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 3615 He standis vp in his stereps in starand maylis. c 1435 Torr. Portugal 987 Torrent in the storrope stod And prayd to god, þat dyed on Rode. c 1450 Merlin x. 164 Ban..ficched hym in the styropes so harde that the Iren bente. 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. xlvi. 487 There with alle sire Palomydes lost his steroppes and lay vp ryght on his horsbak. 1549 in Archæologia XXV. 555 P{supd}..for the vernyshyng of a styrepe iiij{supd}. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. viii. 8, [I saw] Moores mounted on..horses without saddel, bridle, stirrops or spurres. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 377 Of Stirrups they also make these several sorts, the swivel, barr'd, Rippon, and plain stirrop. a 1700 Evelyn Diary Apr. 1646, Instead of stirrups we had ropes tied with a loope to put our feete in. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Stirrops are allowed a modern Invention: Menage observes, that St. Jerom is the first Author who mentions them. 1820 Scott Monast. ix, I am a rude man, bred to lance and stirrup, and not used to deal with book-learned men and priests. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. ii. vi, Now no man on a level with his age but will trot à l'Anglaise, rising in the stirrups. 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain i. 57 The stirrups are the primitive Moorish, copper or iron boxes of a triangular shape, in which almost the whole foot rests. 1886 Hall Caine Son of Hagar i. i, So when I put my feet into the stirrups, there they stuck. |
b. to hold the stirrup:
lit. in helping a person to mount,
esp. as a manifestation of homage or reverence; hence
fig. to be subservient.
Sometimes with allusion to the rendering of this act of homage by certain emperors to the pope.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VII, 52 When the kynge approched, the duke at his lightynge offred to holde his styrope. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. i. 53 Hast thou not kist thy hand, and held my stirrop? 1601 Dent Pathw. Heaven 222 They doe but hold the stirrup to their owne destruction. 1636 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 179 It becometh not Christ to hold any man's stirrup. 1661 Glanvill Van. Dogm. 228 Opinions hold the stirrup, while vice mounts into the saddle. 1675 E. Wilson Spadacrene Dunelm. 34, I hold the stirrop to Pyrotechnical Philosophy. 1763 Churchill Duellist iii. 136 Who was so mean..That he would..hold a stirrup for the Devil. 1908 J. Gairdner Lollardy I. 49 The fiery Frederic Barbarossa held the stirrup of Pope Alexander III. |
c. In various figurative expressions.
| 1601 Sir W. Cornwallis Ess. ii. xl. C c 3, By Marius and Sylla, the Romaines state lost her sturrops; by Cæsar, and Pompey was cast out of the Saddle. 1642 Bridge Serm. Norf. Volunteers 22 Make use of your experience as a stirrup to get up your spirits to the promise. a 1647 Boyle Wks. 1772 I. Life p. xiii, It could not be unwelcome to be of a quality, that was a handsome stirrup to preferment. 1647 Trapp Comm. 2 Pet. ii. 12 Some men..fall beneath the stirrop of reason. 1657 in Burton's Diary (1828) I. 412 The plaintiff will ride post with Festina, but Lentè, quoth the defendant, and puts the plaintiff's foot many times besides the stirrup by Essoins, Imparlances,..or the like. 1690 C. Nesse Hist. & Myst. O. & N. Test. I. 125 Rebels against God fall below the stirrup of sense. 1727 P. Walker Life R. Cameron in Biogr. Presbyt. (1827) I. 287 He got a Dispensation from the Pope to make a Stirrup of our Covenants to mount the Throne of Britain. 1812 J. H. Vaux Vocab. Flash Lang. in Mem. (1964) 277 A man who is in swell street, that is, having plenty of money, is said to be up in the stirrups. 1866 Dickens Boy at Mugby Christm. Stor. (1874) 331 Excitement was up in the stirrups. Expectation stood a-tiptoe. |
† d. yeoman,
groom of the stirrup: former officers in the Royal Household (Master of Horse's department).
Obs.| 1526 in Househ. Ordin. (1790) 203 The wages of the yeoman of the stirrop at 3d. per diem. Ibid. 204 Five Groomes of the Stirrop every of them at 2d. per day. 1538 Elyot Dict., Strator, he that helpeth his mayster to horsebacke, yeman of the styrope. 1547 in Lett. & Papers Hen. VIII (1910) XXI. ii. 401 Belle, groom of the stirrup. 1647 Haward Crown Revenue 23 Yeoman of the Stirrup: Fee, per diem 9. d. 1692 Lond. Gaz. No. 2809/3 The Yeoman of the Stirrup. |
2. Applied to various kinds of foot-rest analogous to the stirrup.
a. Antiq. In a crossbow, a rest in which the foot is placed in order to steady the bow while it is being bent.
| 1371–3 MS. Acc. Exch. K.R. 397/10 m. 3, ij vicz ad tendendum balistas. xviij. stirops pro balistis. |
b. Shoemaking. (See
quot. 1886.)
With
quot. c 1820
cf. stirrup v. 3.
| 1597 Deloney Gentle Craft Wks. (1912) 89 The Stirrop holding fast while we sowe the Cow-hide. 1611 Cotgr., Tire-pied, a Shoomakers stirrup. 1735 Dyche & Pardon Dict., Stirrup,..also an Instrument used by Shoemakers to put over their Knee and under their Foot to hold their Work tight upon their Knee. c 1820 J. Kitto in Eadie Life (1857) 32 S―..bids us, under pain of the stirrup, make a pair of shoes per diem. 1886 W. Somerset Word-bk., Stirrup, a shoemaker's strap, with which he keeps the last firm upon his knee. |
c. [
= F.
étrier.] A kind of footless stocking having a strap which passes underneath the foot; also the strap itself; hence, a similar strap attached to women's stretch trousers or slacks.
orig. U.S. in modern use.
An alleged example
c 1530
Hyckescorner 799 is an error for
stertups: see
startup, a kind of boot.
| 1659 Howell Lex. Tetragl. ii. xxxiii, The stirrop of the hose, l'estrier de la chaussette. 1685 Rec. Scott. Cloth Manuf. New Mills (S.H.S.) 87 Noe more silk or worset stockens be made with stirups. 1714 Fr. Bk. of Rates 123 And to these Stockings or Stirrups of Silk, which shall be hereafter imported, his Majesty ordains, that [etc.]. 1746 Gentl. Mag. XVI. 407 (Exmoor Vocab.) Stirrups, a kind of buskins. 1955 Sun (Baltimore) 7 Jan. (B ed.) 15/1 [Baseball] The stockings, modeled after those of the Boston Red Sox. The stirrup—that cutaway portion which extends down into the shoe—will be orange. 1963 Women's Wear Daily 23 Sept. 15/1 Rayon/nylon twill stretch pants{ddd}hi rise, back zip, no stirrups. 1967 Boston Sunday Herald 26 Mar. (Advt. Section), Comfy elastic waist, neat stitched pleat, self-fabric stirrups. 1980 Times 19 Feb. 8/4 The major buyers have bought..denims, dungarees, stirrup trousers (they used to be called ski pants) in the now obligatory stretch fabrics. |
d. Netting. A contrivance consisting of a footboard suspended by ribbons, serving to keep the work in place.
| 1844 Mrs. H. Owen Ladies' Bk. Needlework (ed. 2) 2 A netting vice or stirrup. 1870 Mag. for Young 6 Her foot in a netting stirrup. 1882 Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework 358/1 For ordinary Netting the plain Stirrup is the best, as the whole weight of the foot is upon it. |
e. Surg. An appliance used in operations for extension. Also, each of a pair of supports for holding the legs of a female patient raised and apart, as during childbirth.
| 1884 W. Pye Surgical Handicraft 187 The use of the stirrup and weight, introduced first for extension in hip disease, was soon applied to fractures. 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 426 If the nurse be desired to apply an extension in cases of hip-disease the ends of the stirrup must be well above the knee. 1936 H. J. Stander Williams' Obstetrics (ed. 7) xv. 406 In the hospital she is..placed on a suitable delivery table,..the legs held in position by adjustable stirrups. 1977 M. French Women's Room (1978) i. 69 The humiliation of being in stirrups and having people peer at her exposed genitals whenever they chose. |
f. nonce-use. (See
quot.)
| 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 169/2 Encentris,..an iron stirrup, or a shooe driuen full of iron nayles poynted, which they vse that goe vpon ice: an icespur. |
g. Mining. (Cornwall.) A foot-rest attached to the rope by which men were let down and drawn up the shaft.
| 1602 Carew Cornwall i. 11 The workmen are let down and taken vp in a Stirrup, by two men who wind the rope. 1778 Pryce Min. Cornub. 158 From the axis hangs a sort of an iron stirrup..by its two hooks. |
h. A stirrup-like foot-rest for working a bellows.
| 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 436 The bellows are..worked by the foot,..by a chain from the rocking-shaft terminating in a stirrup. |
i. (See
quot.)
| 1901 H. E. Bulwer Gloss. Techn. Terms Ch. Bells 5 Stirrup, a separate loop of rope, or leather, attachable to the end of a rope for chiming with the foot. |
3. Anat. = stapes.
| 1615 Crooke Body of Man 592 The first is called..Malleolus the Mallet or the Hammer. The second Incus the Anuill or the Stithy. The third Stapes the Stirrop. 1730 Chamberlayne Relig. Philos. I. xiii. §5 The Auditory Bones are four in Number, the Hammer, the Anvil, the Stirrup, and between the Anvil and Stirrup there lies a small Bone. 1879 G. B. Prescott Sp. Telephone 5 A mechanical apparatus of wonderful delicacy..consisting of a series of bones termed respectively the hammer, anvil and stirrup. |
4. Something shaped like a stirrup.
a. gen.| 1684 R. Waller Nat. Exper. 110 To observe by the Sound the like Dilatation in a Stirrup of Glass. 1874 Spons' Dict. Engin. viii. 2938 Any part of a machine resembling in shape or in functions the stirrup of a saddle, is called the stirrup. |
b. A U-shaped clamp or support.
| c 1450 Reg. Vestments etc. St. Andrews in Maitl. Club Misc. III. 205 Item thre stirrapis for the lampys. 1496–7 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 224 To the Smythe for iij Stays and a litill Sterope and a forth Riȝht dogge of Iryn for the Roode⁓lofte. 1507 in Rokewode's Suff. 150 (Promp. Parv. 202 note) For goions and colars, with ij stireppis for my bruge, weiyng 36½ lb. 1531 Lett. & Pap. Hen. VIII, V. 185 For a sterop for the drawe-bryge. 1536–7 in W. H. St. John Hope Windsor Castle (1913) I. 265 A great storrap for to bear the gutter of the leades over the steres. 1844 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. VII. 149/2 A stirrup..supporting the table. 1850 Denison Clock & Watch-m. 86 The old form of mercurial pendulum was that of a glass cylinder standing on a stirrup at the bottom of a rod. 1869 Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. P 11 The smaller end of the taper mandril is supported in a movable bearing in the balanced lever, the upper end of which is secured by the stirrup. 1866 R. M. Ferguson Electr. (1870) 3 Let us suspend a magnet..by a stirrup of paper, hanging from a cocoon thread. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Stirrup, a band or strap which is bent around one object and is secured to another by its tangs or branches. Ibid., Stirrup (Carpentry), a. a device for holding a rafter-post or strut to a tie... b. an iron strap to support a beam. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining 241 Stirrups, a screw joint suspended from the brake-staff or spring-pole, by which the boring rods are adjusted to the depth of the borehole. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 189 The parts of the stirrup may with advantage be annealed after they are finished. 1894 S. R. Bottone Elect. Instr. Making 22 The wire or fibre which supports the ‘stirrup’ in which is placed the magnetic needle or insulating rod. |
† c. Some kind of appendage to a bell.
Obs.| 1341–2 Ely Sacr. Rolls II. 118 In vj steropis et iiij bondes pro Baunse [sc. a bell so named] 10d. 1474 in T. North Bells Northamptonsh. (1878) 371 For makyng of a storop to the sayd bell, iijd. c 1520 in C. Welch Churchw. Acc. All⁓hallows, Lond. Wall (1912) 56 Item for a sterope for the gret bell, ij{supd} ob. 1683 Churchw. Acc. Pittington etc. (Surtees) 252 For one stirrup for the 2nd bell and altering another. |
5. Naut. a. (See
quot. 1867.)
| 1495 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 152 Boltes with rynges and Styroppes of dyuerse makynges. 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 12 The boule spret, the pillow, the sturrop, the spret sayle. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) s.v. Horse, It [sc. the horse] is usually suspended thereto [i.e. to the yard] at proper distances, by certain ropes called stirrups, which hang about two feet under the yard, having an eye in their lower ends through which the horse passes. 1834 Marryat P. Simple vi, ‘Captain of the foretop,’ said he, ‘up on your horses, and take your stirrups up three inches.’—‘Ay, ay, sir.’ (I looked and looked, but I could see no horses.) 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Stirrups, ropes with eyes at their ends, through which the foot-ropes are rove, and by which they are supported. |
b. (See
quots.)
| 1627 Capt. Smith Sea Gram. xi. 53 When a Ship hath lost a peece of her Keele,..you must patch a new peece vnto it, and bind it with a stirrop, which is an iron comes round about it and the Keele. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 49 New Stirrups put on to secure the false Keel. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 153 Stirrup, an iron or copper plate that turns upwards on each side of a ship's keel and dead⁓wood, at the fore-foot, or at her skeg, and bolts through all. |
† 6. false stirrup: the mace carried by a knight.
It has been suggested that the mace was so called because it hung down from the side of the saddle.
| 14.. Sir G. Haye Bk. Knychthede vi. (S.T.S.) 47 Item, a masse is gevin him..the quhilk masse is lyknyt till a false sterap. Ibid., Quhen he has implyde his spere, his lang suerd, his polax, his false sterap. |
7. In reinforced concrete construction, each of the vertical or diagonal members which bind together the upper and lower reinforcement of a beam, etc.
| 1909 Concrete & Constructional Engin. IV. 250 When vertical stirrups are used they take little stress until a diagonal crack has formed. |
8. attrib. and
Comb. as
stirrup-buckle,
stirrup-holder;
stirrup-shaped adj.;
stirrup† -fashion,
stirrup-wise advs.;
† stirrup-band = sense 5 b;
stirrup-bar, (
a) each of the bars on a saddle-tree to which a stirrup-strap is attached; (
b) the bar of a stirrup on which the foot rests;
stirrup-bone = sense 3;
stirrup-dram = stirrup-cup;
stirrup-fast a. (
nonce-wd.), having the feet secure in the stirrups;
stirrup-foot, (
a) the left forefoot of a horse; (
b) the left foot, the foot used first in mounting a horse;
stirrup-glass = stirrup-cup;
† stirrup-hose = sense 2 c;
stirrup-ladder, a thatcher's short ladder holding to the roof with spikes (
Halliw.);
stirrup lantern (see
quot.);
† stirrupman = yeoman of the stirrup (see 1 d); hence
† stirrup-manship;
† stirrup money, a fee or perquisite of a groom;
stirrup-piece, (
a) (see
quot. 1850); (
b)
nonce-use, a poem relating to riding;
stirrup pump, a portable hand pump held steady by a stirrup-like foot-plate and used,
esp. in the war of 1939–45, for extinguishing small fires and incendiary bombs with water drawn from a bucket and directed by a hose;
stirrup side, ? the left side of a horse (
cf. stirrup-foot);
stirrup-stocking = sense 2 c;
stirrup-stone, ? a stone used for mounting a horse;
stirrup-strap, a leather strap by which a stirrup is suspended;
stirrup-vase Archæol. [misrendering of G.
bügelkanne, formed after
bügeleisen flat-iron], a ‘pseudamphora’ with a square-cut handle on either side of the false spout;
stirrup-verse, a verse at parting;
† stirrup-way, a bridle-path.
| 1407 MS. Acc. Exch. K.R. 44/11 (1) m. 4, ij ligaturis ferri vocatis *steropebandes. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2012/2 (art. Saddle-tree) Two *stirrup-bars are added and iron staples for the valise. 1891 Kipling Light that Failed vi. 89 He has slipped his foot from the stirrup-bar. |
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. v. xiii. 253 Concerning the invention of the stapes or *stirrop bone. 1884 Coues N. Amer. Birds 185 The stapes, or ‘stirrup-bone.’ |
| a 1774 Goldsm. tr. Scarron's Com. Romance (1775) I. 288 The tongue of the *stirrup-buckle had torn his stockings. |
| 1815 Scott Guy M. xxii, Tib Mumps will be out wi' the *stirrup-dram in a gliffing. |
| 1612 Benvenuto's Passenger i. i. 15 Reache me my needleworke bootehose, or those of cloth made *stirrop fashion. |
| 1827 Carlyle Germ. Rom. I. 308 The latter..with difficulty kept his saddle, and scarcely continued *stirrup-fast. |
| 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., The *stirrup-foot is the near, or left foot before. 1823 Lockhart Sp. Ball., Escape of Gayferos vi, The stirrup-foot and the hilt-hand see that ye sunder both. |
| 1775 Ash, *Stirrupglass, the glass drank on horseback at parting. 1818 Brathwait's Barnabees Jrnl. Introd. 18 Taking leave of his host at the Inn door..by having a stirrup glass. |
| 1552 Huloet, *Stirope holder, or yoman of the stirope, strator. 1626 T. H[awkins] Caussin's Holy Crt. 79 How many tymes he hath made himselfe a stirrop-holder, or foot boy. |
| 1659 Howell Lex. Tetragl. ii. xxxiii, *Stirrop-hose, chaussettes à estrier. 1664 Tarif Fr. King & Council (1713) 12 Two pair of stirrup Hose to pay as one. |
| 1824 Reg. Arts & Sci. I. 122 The *Stirrup Lantern is a small square lantern, fixed at the bottom of a stirrup by means of two screw rings on each side. |
| 1524 Reg. Privy Seal Scot. I. 492 Ane Letter to Robert Gib, of the gift of the service of *steropmanschip to the king..siclik as ony uthir *steropman to the king had of before. |
| 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 475 *Stirrup money for the grooms. |
| 1850 Ogilvie, *Stirrup piece, a name given to a piece of wood or iron in framing, by which any part is suspended; a vertical or inclined tie. 1875 Stedman Victor. Poets ix. 302 That superb stirrup-piece..‘How they brought the good news’. |
| [1902 Shand, Mason & Co.'s Portable Fire Appliances 3b, This is another adaptation of the ‘London Brigade’ Hand Pump. The pump is..provided with a stirrup, by means of which it can be used with an ordinary house pail.] 1939 C. C. Ramsay Fire-Fighting in Peace & War vi. 41 The Home Office specification insists on a *stirrup pump with a 30-ft. length of ½-in. rubber tubing (hose). 1939 Punch 27 Sept. 342/1 The long day, with its stream of gas-masks, sandbags, stirrup-pumps, dugouts,..had drawn to a close. 1974 M. Gilbert Flash Point xx. 165 He..had a stirrup pump, a relic of the last war, ready primed in the hall. |
| 1900 Engineering Mag. XIX. 755/1 Current is taken off the conductors by three *stirrup-shaped wires. |
| 1663 Butler Hud. i. ii. 96 Rais'd upon his desperate foot On *stirrup side he gaz'd about. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Chaussettes à estrier, *stirrup stockings. 1662 in Verney Mem. (1894) III. 382, 6 Pair thread stirrup stockings. 1748 Richardson Clarissa V. 10 He could let me have a pair of coarse, but clean stirrup-stockens, if I pleased. |
| 1838 Lytton Alice iv. iii, The peacock, who, perched on an old *stirrup-stone, was sunning his gay plumage. |
| 1775 Ash, *Stirrup-strap..the strap of leather by which the stirrup is suspended. 1890 Doyle White Company xxxvii, Stooping down he loosened the stirrup-straps. |
| 1905 A. J. Evans Prehist. Tombs Knossos in Archæologia LIX. 510 The *stirrup-vases or false-necked amphoras. |
| 1680 [J. Speed] Batt upon Batt 12 No *stirrup-Verse at Grave before she go? |
| 1736 J. Lewis I. of Tenet (ed. 2) 38 Shire-way, a Way or only Horse or Foot Passengers; a Bridle or *Stirrup-way. |
| 1610 R. Vaughan Water-workes R 3 b, A Ring of ground..scituate *stirrope wise. |
▪ II. stirrup, v. (
ˈstɪrəp)
[f. stirrup n.] 1. trans. To supply with or as with stirrups.
| 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iv. xv. (1611) 233 He beareth argent three saddles stirroped sable. 1684 Rec. Scott. Cloth Manuf. New Mills (S.H.S.) 64 Orders lykways the silk stocken stiruped in the head be maid wydder in the topps. |
† 2. refl. To rise in the stirrups; in
quot. fig. to pride oneself
upon something.
Obs. (?
nonce-use.)
| 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. ii. (1673) 85 This is that man who insists so much and stirrops himself upon the Gravity of his Profession. |
3. trans. To flog with a stirrup-leather or with a shoemaker's stirrup.
slang.| 1735 Dyche & Pardon Dict., Stirrup v., to thrash or beat a Person with a Shoe-makers Stirrup. |
4. Naut. To attach stirrups to.
| 1748 Anson's Voy. i. x. 104 We exerted ourselves..to stirrup our shrouds. |
Hence
ˈstirruped ppl. a., provided with a stirrup;
ˈstirruping vbl. n., a flogging with a stirrup-leather.
| 1685 Rec. Scott. Cloth Manuf. New Mills (S.H.S.) 87 That they may be made long and well marreilled and full in the top as if had stiruped head. c 1820 J. Kitto in Eadie Life (1857) 32 [The beadle] gravely gave us a stirruping all round. 1878 Stevenson Inland Voy. 184 The stirrupped foot projects insolently from the frame. |