hoop
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A rigid circular band of metal or wood or other material used for holding or fastening or hanging or pulling.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
hoopIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈhup
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A rigid circular band of metal or wood or other material used for holding or fastening or hanging or pulling
“There was still a rusty iron hoop for tying a horse.”
A circular band of metal used to bind a barrel.
Any circular band or ring.
A circular band of metal, wood, or similar material used for forming part of a framework such as an awning or tent.
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.
A shout; a whoop, as in whooping cough.
verb
transitive
To clasp; to encircle; to surround.
Bind or fasten with a hoop
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A rigid circular band of metal or wood or other material used for holding or fastening or hanging or pulling
Used this way, hoop is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“There was still a rusty iron hoop for tying a horse.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “hoop for …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Nearby words
- basketball hoop , rarer, so it draws attention
Natural pattern: hoop for …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use hoop
- “There was still a rusty iron hoop for tying a horse.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A game played on a court by two opposing teams of 5 players.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Any of various harmless North American snakes that were formerly believed to take tail in mouth and roll along like a hoop.
Pine of Australia and New Guinea.
Vigorous spreading North American tree having dark brown heavy wood.
Plaything consisting of a tubular plastic hoop for swinging around the hips.
Horizontal circular metal hoop supporting a net through which players try to throw the basketball.
A frame made of two hoops.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: rigid circular band of metal or wood
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.