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stoop

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To stoop is to bend over, or to do something that is demeaning or below your status.

(verb)

An example of to stoop is to pick up a child’s toy off the ground.
An example of to stoop is to speak meanly to someone who has disrespected you, to “stoop to their level.”

(verb)

The definition of a stoop is a flat area at the front door of a house, often with steps below used for sitting.

(noun)

An example of a stoop is where a person could sit to talk to neighbors as they walked by.

See stoop in Webster's New World College Dictionary

intransitive verb

to bend the body forward or in a crouch
to carry the head and shoulders or the upper part of the body habitually bent forward
1. to condescend, or deign
2. to demean or degrade oneself
to pounce or swoop down, as a bird of prey
Archaic to yield or submit

Origin: ME stupen < OE stupian, akin to ON stūpa < IE *(s)teup- < base *(s)teu-, to strike > stock

transitive verb

to bend (the head, etc.) forward
Archaic to humble or debase

noun

the act or position of stooping the body, esp. habitually
the act of condescending
a swoop, as by a hawk at prey

Related Forms:

stooper noun
stoopingly adverb

☆

noun

a small porch or platform with steps and, orig., seats, at the door of a house

Origin: Du stoep, akin to Ger stufe: for IE base see step

See stoop in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb stooped, stoop·ing, stoops

verb, intransitive

To bend forward and down from the waist or the middle of the back: had to stoop in order to fit into the cave.
To walk or stand, especially habitually, with the head and upper back bent forward.
To bend or sag downward.
a. To lower or debase oneself.
b. To descend from a superior position; condescend.
To yield; submit.
To swoop down, as a bird in pursuing its prey.

verb, transitive

To bend (the head or body) forward and down.
To debase; humble.

noun

The act of stooping.
A forward bending of the head and upper back, especially when habitual.
An act of self-abasement or condescension.
A descent, as of a bird of prey.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English stoupen

Origin: , from Old English stūpian

noun
Chiefly Northeastern U.S.

A small porch, platform, or staircase leading to the entrance of a house or building.

Origin:

Origin: Dutch stoep, front verandah

Origin: , from Middle Dutch

Regional Note: Originally brought to the Hudson Valley of New York by settlers from the Netherlands, a few items of Dutch vocabulary have survived there from colonial times until the present. Stoop, “a small porch,” comes from Dutch stoep; this word is now in general use in the Northeast and is probably spreading. The word olicook, which appears to be dying out, means “doughnut,” and comes from Dutch oliekoek—literally, “oil cake.” And the Dutch word kill for a small running stream is used throughout New York State.

noun

Variant of stoup.

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