stoop
stoop Lexical Profile
stoop Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A posture in which the head and shoulders are habitually bent forward.
"The elderly scholar walked with a slight stoop after decades of reading over low desks."
North American A small porch or set of steps leading to the front entrance of a house or apartment building.
"Neighbors gathered on the front stoop to chat during the warm summer evening."
A rapid downward dive made by a bird of prey toward its quarry.
"The falcon executed a breathtaking stoop from high above the valley floor."
• verb
To bend one's head or body forward and downward, or to walk or stand with the shoulders habitually curved forward.
"He had to stoop to pass through the low doorway of the historic cottage."
To lower one's moral standards far enough to do something reprehensible or beneath one's dignity.
"She refused to stoop to personal insults during the heated policy debate."
To swoop down swiftly on a target or prey (of a bird of prey).
"The peregrine falcon was seen to stoop from the cliffs at an astonishing speed."
• Rhymes for stoop
Word Origin & Etymology
The sense relating to bending the body derives from Old English 'stupian', meaning to bow or bend low. The North American architectural sense of a small porch or set of entrance steps is an unrelated borrowing from Dutch 'stoep', introduced by early Dutch settlers in New Netherland.