Hoop (?), n. [OE. hope; akin to D. hoep, hoepel.]
1.
A pliant strip of wood or metal bent in a circular form, and united at the ends, for holding together the staves of casks, tubs, etc.
2.
A ring; a circular band; anything resembling a hoop, as the cylinder (cheese hoop) in which the curd is pressed in making cheese.
3.
A circle, or combination of circles, of thin whalebone, metal, or other elastic material, used for expanding the skirts of ladies' dresses; crinoline; -- used chiefly in the plural.
Though stiff with hoops, and armed with ribs of whale.
Pope.
4.
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.
[Obs.]
5.
An old measure of capacity, variously estimated at from one to four pecks.
[Eng.]
Halliwell.
Bulge hoop, Chine hoop, Quarter hoop, the hoop nearest the middle of a cask, that nearest the end, and the intermediate hoop between these two, respectively. -- Flat hoop, a wooden hoop dressed flat on both sides. -- Half-round hoop, a wooden hoop left rounding and undressed on the outside. -- Hoop iron, iron in thin narrow strips, used for making hoops. -- Hoop lock, the fastening for uniting the ends of wooden hoops by notching and interlocking them. -- Hoop skirt, a framework of hoops for expanding the skirts of a woman's dress; -- called also hoop petticoat. -- Hoop snake Zool., a harmless snake of the Southern United States (Abaster erythrogrammus); -- so called from the mistaken notion that it curves itself into a hoop, taking its tail into its mouth, and rolls along with great velocity. -- Hoop tree Bot., a small West Indian tree (Melia sempervirens), of the Mahogany family.
© Webster 1913.
Hoop, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hooped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Hooping.]
1.
To bind or fasten with hoops; as, to hoop a barrel or puncheon.
2.
To clasp; to encircle; to surround.
Shak.
© Webster 1913.
Hoop (?), v. i. [OE. houpen; cf. F. houper to hoop, to shout; -- a hunting term, prob. fr. houp, an interj. used in calling. Cf. Whoop.]
1.
To utter a loud cry, or a sound imitative of the word, by way of call or pursuit; to shout.
[Usually written
whoop.]
2.
To whoop, as in whooping cough. See Whoop.
Hooping cough. Med. See Whooping cough.
© Webster 1913.
Hoop, v. t. [Written also whoop.]
1.
To drive or follow with a shout.
"To be
hooped out of Rome."
Shak.
2.
To call by a shout or peculiar cry.
© Webster 1913.
Hoop, n.
1.
A shout; a whoop, as in whooping cough.
2. Zool.
The hoopoe. See Hoopoe.
© Webster 1913.