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Added 9 October 2026

stoop

/stuːp/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about stoop at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A stooping, bent position of the body.
The old man walked with a stoop.
An accelerated descent in flight, as that for an attack.

verb

To bend the upper part of the body forward and downward to a half-squatting position; crouch.
He stooped to tie his shoe-laces.
To lower oneself; to demean oneself in doing something below one's status, standards, or morals.
Can you believe that a salesman would stoop so low as to hide his customers' car keys until they agreed to the purchase?
Of a bird of prey: to swoop down on its prey.

noun

A vessel for holding liquids; like a flagon but without the spout.

noun

The staircase and landing or porch leading to the entrance of a residence.
The threshold of a doorway; a doorstep.

Origin

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”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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