What does "hoop" mean?
A circular band of metal used to bind a barrel.
Hoop
/huːp/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A circular band of metal used to bind a barrel.
- Grammar: hoop is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: ring, anklet, annular, armlet.
- Useful contrasts: detach, disc, fail to score.
- Usage evidence: Kids these days have no imagination whatsoever. Only a nationwide revolution and sweeping economic reform will bring the hoop and stick back into vogue.
How to use "hoop"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hoop" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "hoop" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "hoop" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hoop" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "hoop" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "ring" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "hoop", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A circular band of metal used to bind a barrel. countable, uncountable
- 2 A shout; a whoop, as in whooping cough.
- 3 someone connected with Queens Park Rangers Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.
- 4 horizontal circular metal hoop supporting a net through which players try to throw the basketball wordnet
- 5 Any circular band or ring. countable, uncountable
"the cheese hoop, or cylinder in which the curd is pressed in making cheese"
Show 18 more definitions
- 6 The hoopoe. archaic
- 7 a rigid circular band of metal or wood or other material used for holding or fastening or hanging or pulling wordnet
- 8 A circular band of metal, wood, or similar material used for forming part of a framework such as an awning or tent. countable, uncountable
- 9 a light curved skeleton to spread out a skirt wordnet
- 10 A circle, or combination of circles, of thin whalebone, metal, or other elastic material, used for expanding the skirts of ladies' dresses; (hence, by extension) a hoop petticoat or hoop skirt. countable, historical, uncountable
"He took the removed chair and drew it so near mine, squatting in it with his ugly weight, that he pressed upon my hoop."
- 11 a small arch used as croquet equipment wordnet
- 12 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. countable, uncountable
- 13 An old measure of capacity, variously estimated at from one to four pecks. UK, countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 14 The rim part of a basketball net. countable, uncountable
- 15 The game of basketball. US, countable, in-plural, metonymically, uncountable
"Articles ranging from Chris Johnson's "For Europeans, hoops is the second-most beautiful game" for The Globe and Mail to Adam Minter's "China Is Hoops Country" for Bloomberg Opinion have detailed the rise in basketball in a wide range of countries, including the most populous ones in the world."
- 16 A hoop earring. countable, uncountable
- 17 A horizontal stripe on the jersey. countable, plural-normally, uncountable
"Porto are playing from right to left in blue and white stripes, blue shorts and blue socks. Celtic are in their usual green and white hoops, with white shorts and white socks."
- 18 A jockey. Australia, broadly, countable, metonymically, slang, uncountable
"The stewards ordered Des Coleman, the senior hoop (jockey) present, to ride and he got the horse home in a photo-finish."
- 19 An obstacle that must be overcome in order to proceed. countable, figuratively, plural-normally, uncountable
"But if they want to export that, then they do have to go through several hoops that you will impose upon them."
- 20 Hooping (manipulation of and artistic movement or dancing with a hoop). uncountable
- 21 A significant amount of swing from the bowler. slang, uncountable
- 22 An apparatus. countable
- 23 An apparatus.; An apparatus program with a hoop. countable, metonymically, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To bind or fasten using a hoop. transitive
"to hoop a barrel or puncheon"
- 2 To utter a loud cry, or a sound imitative of the word, by way of call or pursuit; to shout. dated
- 3 bind or fasten with a hoop wordnet
- 4 To clasp; to encircle; to surround. transitive
"[B]ehold the wretched price of Wales, / Hoopt with a bond of yron round about, […]"
- 5 To whoop, as in whooping cough. dated
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To play basketball. intransitive, slang
"Instead of hooping, they now played tennis, golf, or both."
Example
"Kids these days have no imagination whatsoever. Only a nationwide revolution and sweeping economic reform will bring the hoop and stick back into vogue."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "hoop"?
Common synonyms include: ring, anklet, annular, armlet, band, band.
How do you use "hoop" in a sentence?
Kids these days have no imagination whatsoever. Only a nationwide revolution and sweeping economic reform will bring the hoop and stick back into vogue.
How do you pronounce "hoop"?
Pronounced /huːp/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English hoop, hoope, from Old English hōp (“mound, raised land; in combination, circular object”), from Proto-Germanic *hōpą (“bend, bow, arch”) (compare Saterland Frisian Houp (“hoop”), Dutch hoep (“hoop”), Old Norse hóp (“bay, inlet”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kāb- (“to bend”) (compare Lithuanian kabė (“hook”), Old Church Slavonic кѫпъ (kǫpŭ, “hill, island”)). More at camp.
Etymology 2
Onomatopoeic.