Loop Meaning
/luːp/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA length of thread, line or rope that is doubled over to make an opening.
nounThe opening so formed.
Sentence Examples
This cold has knocked me for a loop.
Keep me in the loop.
The road went in a huge loop around the lake.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The path made a complete ____, so we ended up where we began.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The airplane performed a perfect ____ in the sky, much to the delight of the crowd at the air show.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English loupe (“noose, loop”), earlier lowp-knot (“loop-knot”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse hlaup (“a run”), used in the sense of a "running knot", from hlaupa (“to leap”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną (“to leap, run”). Compare Swedish löp-knut (“loop-knot”), Danish løb-knude (“a running knot”), Danish løb (“a course”). More at leap. The verb is derived from the noun.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"An online feed that constantly “refills” manipulates the brain’s dopaminergic reward system in a similar way. These powerful dopamine-driven loops of endless “seeking” can become addictive."
— 2024 December 9, Siân Boyle, “Is doom scrolling really rotting our brains? The evidence is getting harder to ignore”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 26 Feb 2026:
"He can hang out in the back room of the local adult bookstore […] and hope for a stand-up blow-job through the glory hole in the partition of the two booths that show gay loops."
— 1979 December 8, anonymous author, “The Small Town”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 20, page 5:
"In 1908 the line was extended to a station called Wood Lane, which was built on a terminal track loop so that trains could turn round and go back the other way, [...]"
— 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 119:
"Basingstoke-Exeter will test this. From Salisbury westwards, it's largely single-track since British Rail downgraded it in 1967. There's a ten-mile loop between Templecombe and Yeovil, as well as shorter loops at Chard, Axminster and Honiton."
— 2025 February 5, Philip Haigh, “Where track and train integration will be put to the test”, in RAIL, number 1028, page 51:
"And stop all sight-holes, every loop from whence / The eye of Reason may pry in upon us."
— c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The path made a complete ____, so we ended up where we began.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The airplane performed a perfect ____ in the sky, much to the delight of the crowd at the air show.