Stoop Meaning
/stuːp/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA stooping, bent position of the body.
nounAn accelerated descent in flight, as that for an attack.
Sentence Examples
I had to stoop to go into the room.
I won't stoop to his level.
CEFR Practice Quiz
To pick up the fallen coin, the old man had to ____ down because his back was stiff.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He had to ____ down to get through the very low doorway of the old cottage in the countryside.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English stoupen, from Old English stūpian (“to bow, bend”), from Proto-West Germanic *stūpōn, from Proto-Germanic *stūpōną, *stūpijaną (“to stand out”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewb- (“to push, butt, knock”). Compare steep. Cognate with Dutch stuipen (“to bend the upper part of the body forward and downward”), Old Norse stúpa (“to stoop”). Related also to Old Frisian stēpa (“to help”), Old Norse steypa (“to cause to stoop, cast down, overthrow”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Theo Walcott's final pass has often drawn criticism but there could be no complaint in the 11th minute when his perfect delivery to the far post only required a stoop and a nod of the head from Young to put England ahead."
— 2011, Phil McNulty, Euro 2012: Montenegro 2-2 England:
"At length the hawk got the upper hand, and made a rushing stoop at her quarry"
— 1819, “Bracebridge Hall”, in Hawking, Washington Irving:
"Their walk had continued not more than ten minutes when they crossed a creek by a wooden bridge and came to a row of mean houses standing flush with the street. At the door of one, an old black woman had stooped to lift a large basket, piled high with laundered clothes."
— 1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:
"Pedersen took a short corner and El-Hadji Diouf was given time to send in a cross for Mame Diouf to stoop and head home from close range."
— 2010 December 28, Kevin Darlin, “West Brom 1 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC:
"the holy eagle
Stoop'd, as to foote vs: his Ascension is
More sweet then our blest Fields"
— 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
To pick up the fallen coin, the old man had to ____ down because his back was stiff.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He had to ____ down to get through the very low doorway of the old cottage in the countryside.