| 释义 |
▪ I. stoop, n.1 Now only dial.|stuːp|
Forms: α. 5 stolpe, 5–9 stulp(e, 6 stoulpe. β. 5–7 stowpe, 6 stuipe, stouppe, stowppe, 6–8 stoope, 6–9 stoup(e, 7–9 stope, stowp, (7 stoppe), 7– stoop.
[Late ME. stulpe, stolpe, a. ON. stolpe (Icel. stólpi, Sw., Da. stolpe); prob. cogn. w. Russian stolb post, pillar.
It is doubtful whether the word has any connexion with MLG. and early mod.Du. stolpe, stulpe lid (according to Kilian also beam, rafter), mod.Du. stolp, stulp, mod.G. stulpe (from LG.).
The β forms may possibly partly represent a distinct but synonymous word, a. or cogn. w. OFris. stûpa, MLG., MDu. stûpe whipping-post, stake, punishment of flogging, MHG. stûpe (from MLG.; mod.G. staupe) flogging.]
1. A post, pillar.
α1439Rec. Carpenters' Co. (1914) II. 4 Paide for ij Stulpes and ye settinge up. c1440Promp. Parv. 481/1 Stulpe, or stake, paxillus. c1450Brut 462 Whan the Kyng had riden thurgh Suthwerk, and come to the stulpes without London Brigge. 1490–1Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 167 Item, to Byrd, carpenter, for stolpes & Reylles, viij s. iij d. Ibid. 168 Paide to paris ffor settyng of stulpis and ledgis & nayllis..v d. 1494in Househ. Ord. (1790) 127 The cradle to have five stolpes, three at the head, and twoe at the feet, and the King's armes on the middle stolpe. 1530Palsgr. 277/1 Stoulpe before a doore, souche. 1555T. Phaer æneid ii. (1558) E j b, The walles with skalyng ladders layde, & stulps of scaffolds hie, And vp by stayres thei clyme. 1579Abstr. Dewsbury Court Roll in Yorks. Archæol. Jrnl. XXI. 410 Roger Hirste shall make a newe gate and new stulpes. 1736Ainsworth Lat.-Eng. Dict. Art. T, Save that the transverse plank lay not quite on the top of the erect stulp, but across it a little lower.
β1463in Fabric Rolls York Minster (Surtees) 134 For a newe stowpe to ye grate yates, 10 d. 1552Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. X. 112 Item, to ane turnour turnand stoupis of beddis and charis in the said castell..iij li. iiij s. 1600in Hore Hist. Newmarket (1885) I. 95 Whereas Hugh Wyrrall, gentleman, had caused a stoope to be sett on Doncaster More at the west end of the horse race. 1682W. Blundell Cavalier's Notebk (1880) 267 The stoop, commonly called the chair, where the horse course on Crosby Marsh doth usually begin and end. 1685Cotton tr. Montaigne (1711) I. xxxviii. 335 Stoops dive deeper and deeper into the earth by being moved up and down. 1709in Slingsby's Diary (1836) 193 Upon her Lady-ships promise that the said Gate, & Stoups, & all things belonging to it should be hung. 1756M. Calderwood in Coltness Collect. (Maitl. Club) 226 A chair, with one carved bar close to the bottom behind, eight other turned bars, the stoops and four cross bars in the back, a rush bottom. 1770E. Heslerton Inclos. Act 6 Guarded with substantial stoops and rails. 1823Willson Gloss. Gothic Archit. (ed. 2) 21 Stoup, a post. A pedestal, or small pillar, for a statue to stand upon. 1829Glover Hist. Derby I. 190 Substantial stone stoops or posts for gates are in general use.
in fig. context.1637Rutherford Lett. (1664) 254 Our Salvation is fastened with God's own hand and with Christ's own strength to the strong stoup of God's unchangeable nature. Mal. 3. 6.
2. fig. A person or thing that supports or sustains; a ‘prop’, ‘pillar’. Sc.
a1572Knox Hist. Ref. iv. Wks. 1848 II. 411 Ledingtoune and the Maister of Maxwell were that nycht the two stoupeis of hir chair. 1640R. Baillie Lett. & Jrnls. (Bannatyne Club) I. 282 Since he heard of Ratcliffe prisoned, and Wentford's death, his two stoups, his heart is a little fallen. 1721Ramsay To Earl Dalhousie 2 Dalhousie of an auld descent, My chief, my stoup, and ornament. 1821Galt Ann. Parish xxvi. (1895) 167 All [invited] in addition to our old stoops from the neighbouring parishes. 1863R. Paul in B. Bell Mem. (1872) 266 He..is..a great stoop to the Free Church. 1896Barrie Marg. Ogilvy ii, He was a great ‘stoup’ of the Auld Licht kirk.
†3. Cant. The pillory. Obs.
1795Potter Dict. Cant (ed. 2). 1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict.
4. Mining. (See quot. 1881.) stoop-and-room = pillar-and-stall: see pillar n. 7.
1881J. Sands Sk. Tranent 30 ‘Stoops’, or massive pillars of coal, were left to support the roof. 1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Stoop-and-Rooms. 1888B. H. Brough Mine-Surv. 7 The ‘post and stall’ system,..known..in Scotland as ‘stoup and room’, and the ‘long-wall’ system. 1890Wallace Alston Moor 141 (E.D.D.) From these levels short cross-cuts were made..into the vein, and its contents mined by stoups. 1899N.B. Daily Mail 21 June 5 The adjoining ‘stoop’ was finished last Wednesday. That was about half a mile from the pit bottom.
5. attrib. as † stoop bedstead; (sense 4) stoop-road, stoop-side; stoop-net, a fishing-net supported on a pole.
1593Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1860) 228 In the south turrett. One *stoupe bedstead, teaster, valens and curtaines.
1806Morison Decis. XXXIII. 14271 The *stoop-net is quite a different kind of net from the pock-net, being a much larger net, with the mouth of it fastened to three pieces of wood, fixed in the form of a triangle. To this triangle is fixed a large pole, by which a person in a boat holds it while he is fishing.
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining 243 *Stoop roads, roads driven in the solid or whole coal on the stoop and room system.
1887P. McNeill Blawearie 33 Hanging his lighted lamp on the *stoopside.
▪ II. stoop, n.2|stuːp|
Also 6–7 stoupe, stoope, 7 (? erron.) stop(pe.
[f. stoop v.1]
1. An act of stooping; a bending of the body forwards; a bow.
1571Campion Hist. Irel. (1633) 69 The Generall also himselfe, digging with a pykeaxe, a desperate villaine..watched his stoope, and clove his head with an axe. 1603B. Jonson Sejanus i. (1605) B 3, Cor. Here comes Seianus. Sil. Now obserue the stoupes, The bendings, and the falls. Arr. Most creeping base! 1668Dryden Even. Love Epil. 14 Up starts a Mounsieur, new come o'er, and warm In the French stoop, and the pull-back o' th' Arm. 1760C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) I. 263 Some unlucky stoop burst the string that tied his breeches. 1833Chalmers in Hanna Mem. (1851) III. 370 A passage often narrow and requiring a very low stoop. 1885Spectator 25 July 977/2 His trick was done by a peculiar method of stooping, and of concealing the stoop behind a skirt.
transf.1684R. Waller Nat. Exper. 130 The Amber being hung at liberty by a thread in the Air,..when it was rubb'd and heated, made a stoop to those little Bodies, which likewise proportionally presented themselves thereto, and readily obey'd its call.
b. fig. A condescension, a voluntary descent from superiority or dignity.
1636Shirley Duke's Mistr. iii. i. (1638) E 2 b, Have you obteyn'd so much As one stoope to your wanton avarice, One bend to please your inflam'd appetite? 1681Dryden Span. Friar iv. ii, Can I, can any Loyal Subject see With Patience, such a Stoop from Sovereignty? 1842J. Sherman in Allon Mem. (1863) 294 To give us a claim to all His perfections..is such a stoop of the Divine Majesty as exceeds the utmost stretch of human imagination. 1856Spurgeon Serm. N. Park St. Pulpit 720 It would have been a stoop more immense than if a seraph should have changed himself into an emmet. 1890Spectator 22 Nov., She certainly ‘stoops to deceit’ often enough for the stoop to leave a very vivid impression on the reader's mind.
†c. to give the stoop: to bow; fig. to yield, give way. Obs.
1623B. Jonson Time Vind. (1640) 94 T' have giv'n the stoop, and to salute the skirts Of her, to whom all Ladies else are flirts! a1670Hacket Abp. Williams ii. (1693) 186 O that a King should give the stoop to such as these?
2. A stooping attitude; a temporary or permanent bent position of the back or shoulders.
1716Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Lady Rich 20 Sept., I can assure you that..a small stoop in the shoulders, nay, even gray hairs, are no objection. 1825Lond. Med. & Phys. Jrnl. LIV. 210 On the Means generally used with the intention of curing a Stoop. 1862M. E. Braddon Lady Audley x, The lazy horses..dropping their heads with a weary stoop under the afternoon sunshine. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola v, His tall spare frame had the student's stoop of the shoulders. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 77 Associated with the forward stoop is a tendency to take quick steps. 1904A. C. Benson House of Quiet xix. (1907) 115 He was a tall thin man, with a slight stoop.
†3. Descent, declivity (of a mountain); a downward slope or incline. Obs.
1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. x. §7 As he was entring into Savoy, at the stoope, or descent of the Alpes, very many of the..Peeres of England met him. 1711Milit. & Sea Dict. (ed. 4) s.v. Chemise, When the Soil was sandy and loose; and therefore could not support it self, without allowing it too great a Talus, or Stoop.
b. dial. (See quot.)
1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Stoop, a fall of water in a river.
4. The action of descending from a height; spec. the swoop of a bird of prey on its quarry, or the descent of a falcon to the lure. Also fig.
c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxix. Q. i, Lett not these that soare to high By my low stoope, yet higher fly. a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. (1598) 261 (Amphialus' Dream 56) More swift then falcons stoope to feeding Falconers call. c1611Chapman Iliad xxiii. 91 Like matter vaporous The spirit vanisht vnder earth, and murmur'd in his stoope. a1616Beaum. & Fl. Wit without M. iv. i. (1639) G 4 How daintily she [the lady] flies upon the lure, and cunningly she makes her stoppes. 1645Waller To Mutable Fair 16 Poems 120 Now will I wander through the ayre, Mount, make a stoope at every Fayre. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VI. 48 Some water-fowls subsist by making sudden stoops from above, to seize whatever fish come near the surface. 1823Byron Age of Bronze vii, Vulture-plumed guerrillas, on the stoop For their incessant prey. 1845Darwin Voy. Nat. iii. (1879) 54 Its stoop..is very inferior in force and rapidity to that of a hawk. 1885–94Bridges Eros & Psyche Nov. 12 As an eagle..checks his headlong stoop With wide-flung wing. 1891Harting Bibl. Accipitr. 230 Stoop, the swift descent of a falcon on the quarry from a height.
5. Comb.: stoop-necked a., having the neck bent downwards; stoop-shouldered a., having a stoop in the shoulders.
1773Pennsylv. Gaz. 7 July 3/3 Run away from the subscriber, an English servant girl,..about 20 years of age, a little stoop shouldered. 1887C. G. D. Roberts Poems (1903) 56 Black on the ridge, against that lovely flush, A cart, and stoop-necked oxen. 1899Royal Mag. Feb. 384/1 An old woman of seventy, thin, stoop-shouldered—from long years of bending over her cobbler's bench.
▪ III. stoop, n.3 N. Amer.|stuːp|
Also 9 stoup.
[a. Du. stoep: see stoep.]
a. ‘An uncovered platform before the entrance of a house, raised, and approached by means of steps. Sometimes incorrectly used for porch or veranda.’ (Cent. Dict.)
1789Massachusetts Spy 20 Aug. 3/2 Several persons were in a stoop and at windows within fifteen or twenty feet from the tree. 1833C. P. Traill Backwoods of Canada ix. (1836) 142 The Canadians call these verandahs ‘stoups’. 1837Hawthorne Amer. Note-bks. 13 July (1883) 58 Councillors seated about, sitting on benches near the bar, or on the stoop along the front of the house. 1856Miss Warner Hills Shatemuc ii, He was cleaning the harness of the wagon, and he took it out into the broad stoop outside of the kitchen door. 1883Stevenson Across the Plains (1896) 16 The clear, bright, gardened townships spoke of country fare and pleasant summer evenings on the stoop.
b. stoop ball, a ball game resembling baseball, but in which the ball is thrown against a stoop or building rather than to a batter.
1941B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? ix. 166 Kids yelling at each other in a stoop-ball game. 1947Commentary May 463/2 As one of a large family of games such as stoopball..it demands an ability to maneuver freely. 1959J. D. Salinger in New Yorker 6 June 102/2 Stoopball, for the information of rural readers, is a ball game played with the support of a flight of brownstone steps or the front of a apartment building. 1978G. A. Sheehan Running & Being vii. 90 We knew our block... Knew which steps to get pointers in stoop ball.
▪ IV. stoop, v.1|stuːp|
Pa. tense and pple. stooped |stuːpt|. Forms: 1 stúpian, 2–4 stupen, 4–7 stoupe (4 stope), 5 stowpe, 7 stoup, 6 stoope, 6– stoop.
[OE. stúpian wk. vb. corresp. to MDu. stûpen (WFlem. stuipen, now conjugated strong), ON. stúpa (once, in inf.; MSw., Sw. stupa wk. vb., Norw. stupa str. vb.); related by ablaut to OTeut. *staupo- steep a. For the phonology of the mod.Eng. form cf. coop, droop, where ME. ū before p has similarly remained unchanged instead of becoming (aʊ).]
I. To bow down, to descend.
1. a. intr. Of a person: To lower the body by inclining the trunk or the head and shoulders forward, sometimes bending the knee at the same time. Often with down.
c893ælfred Oros. vi. xxiii, Þæt he swa oft sceolde stupian swa he to his horse wolde, & he þonne se cyning hæfde his hrycg him to hliepan. a1225Juliana 72 As ha schulde stupen ant strecchen forð þe swire [sc. to be beheaded]. c1275Passion our Lord 559 in O.E. Misc., He adun stupede and lokede myd eye. a1300Cursor M. 13728 He stuped dun, and wit his hand He wrat a quil in to þe sand. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5613 He stouped down to seke a stone. 13..K. Alis. 1103 Alisaundre anvied was; Over the table he gon stoupe, And smot Lifias with the coupe. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 394, I moste sitte..I may nouȝte stonde ne stoupe ne with-oute a stole knele. c1380Sir Ferumb. 4065 As lef me were her stope adoun, & lete gurd of myn heued. 1388Wyclif John xx. 5 And whanne he stoupide, he sai the schetis liynge, netheles he entride not. a1400Octouian 1141 In haste the geaunt stupte adoun, With the left hond to take vp the fachoun. c1400Rom. Rose 2662 Than shalt thou stoupe, and lay to ere, If they within a-slepe be. c1450Merlin vii. 119 He..smote the kynge loth vpon the helme that he made hym stoupe on the arson of his sadell. 1470–85Malory Arthur ix. xxxiii. 391 Thenne sir Tristram was ware of hym & there he stouped a syde. a1500Abraham 378 in Brome Bk. 66 But, fader, wyll I stowppe downe lowe, ȝe wyll not kyll me with ȝowre sword, I trowe? 1530Palsgr. 737/2, I stowpe downe to take upe a thyng, je me penche. 1553Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 25 All suche as wayte on hym, stoup downe & make lowe curtesie. 1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Pronus, Thou stoupest downe & drinkest water. 1584Cogan Haven Health i. (1612) 3 Stouping and rising oftentimes,..these doe excercise the backe and loines. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. v. 12 He..with so exceeding furie at him strake, That forced him to stoupe upon his knee. 1603G. Owen Pembrokeshire (1891) 253 A man on horsbacke, may well ride vnder it, without stowpinge. 1603B. Jonson Panegyre K. Jas. 23 Beside her stoup't on either hand, a maid. 1649E. Reynolds Hosea vii. 124 Angels..stoope down with their faces towards the mercy Seat. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 169 The Youthful Charioteers with heaving Heart..Stoop to the Reins, and lash with all their Force. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxviii, Dorothée, now stooping to pick up something that had dropped from among the papers, suddenly exclaimed [etc.]. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre xxxiv, He raised his head suddenly from the desk over which he was stooping. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola xii, He had just stooped to reach his manuscript, which had rolled down. 1900L. Huxley Life Prof. Huxley II. vi. 65 To stoop over the microscope was a physical discomfort.
¶b. In ME. poetry occas. used for: To fall headlong. Obs.
13..Sir Beues 3817 Taile ouer top he made him stoupe. c1400Destr. Troy 7256 He hit on his helme with a heuy sword, þat greuit hym full gretly, gert hym to stoupe. c1430Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 3821 With his launce grete and square To Sir Abel grymlie he bare That he made him low stoupe Bakward ouer his hors croupe.
c. Said of the head or shoulders.
1375Barbour Bruce viii. 297 With hedis stowpand and speris straucht Richt to the kyng thar vay thai raucht. 1576Gascoigne Grief of Joye ii. li, Owre showlders stowpe, wch erst stood bolt upright. a1616? Beaum. & Fl. Faithful Friends i. i. MS. Dyce Collect. No. 10. 4 The Sabines are in Armes, whose Stuborn neckes These many yeares stoopt to the yoake of Roome. 1663Butler Hud. i. i. 286 His Back, or rather Burthen show'd As if it stoop'd with its own load.
†d. Of a quadruped: To crouch. Obs.
1590Spenser F.Q. i. vi. 25 He would learne The Lyon stoup to him in lowly wise. a1625Fletcher Nice Valour iv. i, This fellow..Stoops like a Cammell, that Heroick beast, At a great load of Nutmegs.
e. Of a dog: To put its nose to the ground to find a scent.
1523–34Fitzherb. Husb. §41 It is harde to make an olde dogge to stoupe. 1781P. Beckford Th. Hunting (1802) 91 When your young hounds stoop to a scent,..you may then begin to put them into the pack. 1897[see stooping vbl. n.].
2. fig.
a. To ‘bow’ to superior power or authority; to humble oneself, yield obedience. Const. to, under. Now somewhat rare.
1530Palsgr. 737/2 Thought you be never so prowde a varlet, I wyll make you stowpe or you go. 1535Coverdale Job ix. 13 He is God..the proudest of all must stoupe vnder him [Luther: unter ihn müssen sich beugen]. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 52 Stoope Englande stoope, and learne to knowe thy lorde and master. 1570Levins Manip. 221/30 To stoupe, humiliare se. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 118 By the Scots that infested them out of Ireland, they were made to stoop. c1640Shirley Cont. Ajax & Ulysses (1659) 128 Early or late, They stoop to fate, And must give up their murmuring breath, When they pale Captives creep to death. 1642Fuller Holy St. ii. xxi. 134 Here Drake received a dangerous wound, though he valiantly conceal'd it for a long time, knowing if his heart stooped, his mens would fall. 1646H. P. Medit. Seige 98 He hath..made his desires stoope unto his reason. 1666Dk. Newcastle in 11th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 14 His..victory over his enemies, which will make all his neyghbor kinges stoope to him. 1710O. Sansom Acc. Life 43 Because I would not stoop under them,..to promise to go to no more Meetings..they Fined me Five Pounds. a1715Burnet Own Time iii. (1724) I. 523 The Duke now seemed to triumph in Scotland. All stooped to him. 1752Young Brothers iv. i, Tho' Thrace by conquest stoops to Macedon, I know my rank. 1837Thirlwall Greece xxix. IV. 104 A Spartan generally found it the hardest of all things to stoop.
†b. To submit to something burdensome. Obs.
1611B. Jonson Catiline iv. i, Good and great men: that know how To stoupe to wants, and meete necessities. 1621T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 105 Why should hee which knowes, and takes himselfe to be a man,..refuse to put vnder his shoulder and stoope to those ieopardies, burthens, and crosses. 1621in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1906) 265 More losse then wee have reason to stoope unto. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. iv. 13 It had been better for them to have stooped to hard conditions with the Picts.
c. To condescend to one's inferiors or to some position or action below one's rightful dignity.
1579W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. Love 18 God..stoupeth and lispeth with us that we may understand him. 1661Boyle Style Script. (1675) 241 The Divine inspirer of the Scripture, ev'n when his style seems most to stoop to our capacities, doth yet retain a prerogative above meerly humane writings. a1669Stillingfl. Six Serm. v. 195 Is Religion a beggarly and contemptible thing, that it doth not become the greatness of your mindes to stoop to take any notice of it? 1671Trenchfield Cap Gray Hairs (1688) 4 And tho some Fathers..have undertook to give advice unto their Sons;..yet there's not any (that I know of) hath stoopt so low, to give advice to an Apprentice. 1687T. Brown Saints in Uproar Wks. 1730 I. 78, I can hardly believe that such nice, well-bred ladies, as those are, would stoop to so vile a drudgery. 1703De Foe in 15th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. iv. 61 Nor is there anything so mean (which I can honestly stoop to do) that I would not submit to, to obtain her Majesty's favour. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xxx, If you can stoop to an alliance with a family so poor as mine, take her. 1773― (title) She stoops to conquer. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 195 Stooping from his high estate to sow the sweet flowers of poetry and song. 1868Browning Ring & Bk. I. i. 139 A Latin cramp enough..But interfilleted with Italian streaks When testimony stooped to mother-tongue. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. iv. 193 The Aquitanian princes now and then stooped to pay a nominal homage.
d. To lower or degrade oneself morally; to descend to something unworthy.
1743Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas Ded. p. iv, A British Seaman hath a Spirit too brave to stoop to so degenerate a Practice. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 96 ⁋5 Many whom their conscience can scarcely charge with stooping to a lie, have [etc.]. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxi. IV. 555 He..was incapable of stooping to an act of baseness. 1891Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xxxiv, Her son stooped to the most ignoble methods for rendering her life miserable.
3. a. Of a thing: To incline from the perpendicular; to bend down; to slope; to hang over.
c1000Sax. Leechd. III. 266 Ȝyf seo sunne hine [the new moon] onælð ufan þonne stupað he [i.e. has the concave side inclined downward]. 1340Ayenb. 151 U or he nimþ hede þet his tour ne hongi ne stoupi. c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 968 As flouris, thurgh cold of nyghte Yclosid, stoupyn in her stalkys lowe. 1422Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. 233 He that hath a longe noose and Sum-whate stowpynge and strachynge toward the mouthe, he is worthy and hardy. Ibid. 234 Who-so hath a leiand Plate noose amyd, stoupynge to-warde the butte, he is a iogoloure. 1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 1028 The grasse stoops not, she treads on it so light. 1615J. Taylor (Water P.) Fair & Foul Weather B 1 b, With a troope Of full mouth'd windes, that made great oakes to stoope. 1702Milit. Dict. s.v. Bomb, Rowling down Bombs upon them along a Plank set stooping towards their Works. 1683Temple Mem. Wks. 1731 I. 419 Nimeguen is seated upon the Side of a Hill, which..stoops upon the River Waal. 1827Scott Highl. Widow i, The rocks and precipices which stooped down perpendicularly on our path. 1829― Anne of G. ii, He felt the huge cliff on which he stood, tremble, stoop slowly forward, and gradually sink from its position. 1885Athenæum 23 May 669/1 The crests of the rushes..are not stirred sufficiently to make them stoop.
†b. Of a heavenly body: To bend its course downward; to begin to descend. Obs.
1615Chapman Odyss. xii. 444 In Nights third part; when stars began to stoope; The Cloud-assembler, put a Tempst vp. 1631R. Knevet Rhodon & Iris iv. iii. G 2 b, I saw the blazing meteor stoupe, And bend his course toward the humble Center.
†c. Naut. To heel over. Obs.
1663Sir W. Petty in Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men (1841) I. 103 Our vessel..hath sailed by and large, to the admiration of some hundred seamen..for..keeping a wind,..not stooping, staying and steering. 1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 121 The line unto which she stoops upon a Wind of either side. Ibid. 124 The Ship upon a Wind, is to stoop upon a certain Angle.
4. To stand or walk with the shoulders bent or the upper part of the body inclined forwards; esp. to have habitually or permanently this kind of attitude.
1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 777 His sight wax dym..His bak waxes croked, stoupand he gas. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 185 In his elde þe stature boweþ and crokeþ and stoupeþ adoun. 1474Caxton Chesse ii. ii. (1883) 29 So olde that he stowped & quaqued for age. 1530Palsgr. 737/2 Sche is but a yong wenche and yet sche stowpyth and sche were an owlde woman. 1605Proclam. Search T. Percy 5 Nov., He stoupeth somewhat in the shoulders. 1611Bible 2 Chron. xxxvi. 17 The king of the Caldees..had no compassion vpon..olde man, or him that stouped for age. 1776Pennsylv. Even. Post 30 Apr. 220/1 Two..servant women. One..tall and lusty, stoops in her shoulders. 1838Lytton Alice ii. iii, Cissy, my love, don't stoop so. 1856Compaing & Devere Tailor's Guide Cutting 9 A man stoops, when, instead of standing upright, he usually carries his body forward, and becomes shorter in front and longer behind. 1905E. Glyn Viciss. Evangeline 89 She was very tall and thin, and stooped dreadfully.
†5.
a. To descend from a height. Obs.
1608B. Jonson Masque at Ld. Hadington's Marr. Wks. (1616) 939 Venus, is this a time to quit your carre? To stoope to earth? to leaue alone, your starre, Without your influence? 1633P. Fletcher Purple Isl. xi. xxxv, Soon stoops the speedie Herauld through the aire. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 75 The winged Nation wanders thro' the Skies,..Then stooping on the Meads and leafy Bow'rs, They skim the Floods, and sip the purple Flow'rs. 1847Tennyson Princess vii, The cloud may stoop from heaven and take the shape With fold to fold, of mountain or of cape.
†b. To be lowered in amount or degree. Obs.
1572Malim tr. Martinengo's Famagusta 9 b, All our prouision within the Citie stooping very lowe. 1608Chapman Byron's Consp. i. ii. 182 Your highnesse makes the light of this Court stoope, With your so neere departure.
6. a. Of a hawk or other bird of prey: To descend swiftly on its prey, to swoop (const. at, on); also, to descend to the lure. Also fig.
1575Turberv. Falconrie 123 The Almaines doe flee at the Pye with a lease or twoo caste of Falcons at once, and they make them to mownte and to stowpe. 1577Grange Golden Aphrod. G ij b, With lure I play the Faukner kinde,..I shake my fiste, I whistle shrill, but nought will make hir stoupe. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. xi. 43 As when Joves harnesse-bearing Bird from hye Stoupes at a flying heron with proud disdayne. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. iii. (1624) 208 A Hawke..when the game is sprung, comes down amaine, & stoupes vpon a sudden. 1675Traherne Chr. Ethics 457 An eagle cannot stoop at flies. 1717Bolingbroke Let. to Sir W. Windham (1753) 147 Whether the priest had stooped at the lure of a cardinal's hat,..I know not. 1779Sheridan Critic i. i, The follies and foibles of society are subjects unworthy the notice of the comic muse, who should be taught to stoop only at the..blacker crimes of humanity. 1825Scott Betrothed xxiii, At length one of the falcons had reached a pitch from which she ventured to stoop at the heron. 1828J. S. Sebright Hawking 27 The magpie is to be driven from his retreat, and the hawk, if at a good pitch, will stoop at him as he passes to another bush. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre (ed. 2) Pref., Fielding could stoop on carrion, but Thackeray never does. 1895J. G. Millais Breath fr. Veldt (1899) 121 Tawny eagle stooping at wounded steinbuck.
b. trans. = To stoop at or on. ? Obs.
1575Turberv. Falconrie 154 Then shall you first cast off a well quarried or make Hawke, and let hir stoupe a fowle vpon a brooke or a plashe. 1583T. Watson Poems (Arb.) 83 In time all haggred Haukes will stoope the Lures. 1607Dekker & Webster Northw. Hoe v. i. G 4 b, See the hawke that first stoopt my phesant is kild by [etc.]. 1618Fletcher Loyal Subj. i. ii, He flies to stoop our favours.
II. Causative uses.
7. a. trans. To cause to bow down, bring to the ground; fig. to humiliate, subdue. Now rare.
c1205Lay. 25950 Mon ne mæi mid strenðe stupen hine to grunde. 1594Kyd Cornelia ii. 153 [Caesar] that toyld To stoope the world and Rome to his desires. 1594Chapman Shadow of Nt. B iij, Shoote, shoote, and stoope his pride. c1600Distr. Emperor iv. iii. in Bullen O. Pl. (1884) III. 236, I cannot stoope the harte of Ganelon. c1611Chapman Iliad vi. 407 The Gods may stoupe me by the Greekes. 1615― Odyss. v. 321 He fell to felling downe; And twentie trees he stoopt, in litle space. 1616Niccols Overburies Vis. (1873) 13 Hee, whose conquering stroke Did stoope our neckes to Norman rule. a1630S. Page Ps. xi. 6 in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. I. 155 [The snares] of our own sins..Keep down our heads, and stoop us that we cannot look up. 1742Young Nt. Th. ix. 855 Turn we, nor will hear..what they [the stars] would impart For man's emolument, sole cause that stoops Their grandeur to man's eye? 1839Blackw. Mag. XLVI. 279 The worst symptom is at home, in the wretched impolicy which stoops Government to the rabble. 1856Lever Martins of Cro' Martin xli, A very large, powerfully-built man, somewhat stooped by age. 1901J. Barlow Ghost-bereft 65 The wind in the trees stooped the straightest that stood All its own way.
†b. pass. To be curved downwards. Obs.
1681Grew Musæum i. §5 i. 100 The Brasilian Frog-fish..hath a black Horn on his Forehead, stooped forwards.
8. a. To bow (the head, † face, neck, knee); to incline (one's ear). Also to stoop an eye on (? nonce-use), to deign to glance at.
1634Milton Comus 333 Thou fair Moon..Stoop thy pale visage through an amber cloud. 1655W. Hammond On death of Brother Poems 67 But stoop thine eare ill-councelld youth, and hark. 1771Muse in Miniature 146 To him I stoop the penitential knee. 1777Potter æschylus, Prometh. Chain'd 56 Chorus. What, shall high Jove bend to a greater lord? Prometheus. And to a yoke more galling stoop his neck. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xxii, With his face stooped against his hands. 1825― Talism. vii, He then stooped his lofty crest, and entered a lowly hut. 1831James Phil. Augustus I. xv, He pushed his way through the foliage, stooping his head to prevent the branches striking him in the face. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxii. 155 In getting through the rocks..I once had occasion to stoop my head. 1885–94Bridges Eros & Psyche May xix, Here Zeus, in likeness of a tawny bull, Stoop'd on the Cretan shore his mighty knee. 1904S. Weyman Abbess of Vlaye xi, This puling girl on whom the Captain of Vlaye had stooped an eye.
b. refl. or quasi-refl. = sense 1.
1808Scott Marm. vi. xxx, She stoop'd her by the runnel's side. 1814― Ld. of Isles iii. xii, Where Coolin stoops him to the west, They saw upon his shiver'd crest The sun's arising gleam. 1849Rock Ch. of Fathers i. viii. (1903) III. 65 While he..stoops him down to read the legend.
c. fig. To condescend to apply (one's thoughts, etc.) to something unworthy.
1598Sylvester Du Bartas i. i. 143 Let other-some (whose fainting Spirits do droop) Down to the ground their meditations stoop. 1698Collier Short View i. 3 I'm sorry the Author should stoop his Wit thus Low. 1718Pope Iliad xi. 95 None stoop'd a Thought to base inglorious Flight. 1866Lytton Lost Tales Miletus Pref. p. vii, In this selection I have avoided..the more licentious themes, to which..the Boccacios of Miletus sometimes stooped their genius.
†9.
a. To let down, lower, ‘vail’. Often Naut. and Mil. to lower (a sail, an ensign). Obs.
1530Tindale Gen. xxiv. 14 The damsell to whom I saye, stoupe doune thy pytcher and let me drynke. 1593Drayton Sheph. Garland ix. xv, With that fayre Cynthya stoups her glittering vayle, And diues adowne into the Ocean flood. 1597― Heroic. Ep., Q. Isab. to Rich. II, 104 Nor durst his slugging Hulks approch the strand, Nor stoop'd a top as signall to the Land. 1612― Poly-olb. viii. 212 Nor with that Consull ioyn'd, Vespasian could..make them stoope their saile. 1639S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 180 Fortune is constrained to stoope her ensign before her. 1672T. Venn Milit. Observ. 175 You shall see some Ensigns let fly their Colours, when they should sink them; and some to stoop them to Pesants or Comrades, when Superiors have gone unsaluted. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 24 They made many bows to the East lifting up the right hand to their head, and then stooping it down to the ground. 1697Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. ii. 56 A Man must stoop his hand for his Friend, and raise him up towards his own Ground.
fig.a1619M. Fotherby Atheom. (1622) Pref. p. xviii, The highest points, which I have carefully indeauoured to stoop and demitte, euen to the capacitie of the very lowest.
b. Of a bird, etc.: To direct (its flight) downwards.
1810Scott Lady of L. ii. xxxiii, Like the ill Demon of the night, Stooping his pinions' shadowy sway Upon the nighted pilgrim's way. 1824― St. Ronan's vi, This is not the way of the world, my good sir, to which even Genius must stoop its flight.
†10. To put down, stake (money) on a game.
c1550Dice-Play (Percy Soc.) 27 He that will not stoop a dodkin at the dice, per chaunce at cardes will spend God's cope. 1591Greene 2nd Pt. Conny Catching (1592) B 4 b, The Conny-catchers..began to lay the plot how they might make him stoope all the money in his purse. 1592― Def. Conny Catching To Rdr., Some that would not stoope a farthing at cardes, would venter all the byte in their boung at dice.
†11. To plunge (a knife) in a person's body. Obs.
1662Lamont Diary (Maitl. Club) 145 [He] was strangled in his bed priuately, and, fearing he sould recouered, a knife was stooped in his throat.
12. To tilt (a cask). Now dial. Cf. steep v.2 1.
a1670Hacket Abp. Williams i. (1692) 59 To stoop this Vinacre to the very Lees. 1788G. Keate Pelew Isl. xxv. 312 The only conveniency they had of keeping water..was in thick bamboos, that had a bore of five or six inches diameter; these they placed upright, and stooped them when they wanted to pour any out. 1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 161 Stoop the vessel sideways. 1838Holloway Prov. Dict., To stoop, to put a piece of wood behind a cask that is nearly empty, so as to raise the hinder part, in order to let the contents run out.
13. To train (a dog) to ‘stoop’ for a scent. Cf. 1 e.
1781P. Beckford Th. Hunting (1802) 85 It is now time to stoop them to a scent. 1826J. Cook Fox-hunting 23 You will soon find they [the young hounds] will ‘down with their noses’ without being unnaturally stooped to Hare.
III. 14. Comb.: stoop crop N. Amer., a crop whose cultivation demands stoop labour; † stoop-frog (? nonce-wd.), an oppressor of frogs (the King Stork of the fable); stoop labour N. Amer., agricultural labour performed in a stooping (or squatting) position; stoop tag N. Amer. = squat tag.
1928Sat. Even. Post. 10 Mar. 170/2 He does heavy field work—particularly in the so-called ‘*stoop crops’ and ‘knee crops’ of vegetable and cantaloupe production. 1939J. Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath xix. 316 Lettuce, cauliflower, artichokes, potatoes—stoop crops. 1967PTA Mag. (U.S.) June 5 He was one of the migrant workers who follow the course of stoop crops through California fields and valleys.
1602Warner Alb. Eng. vi. xxxii. 160 This *stoope-Frog æsops Storke.
1943Sun (Baltimore) 3 Aug. 11/1 Asparagus cutting ordinarily is a specialized *stoop-labor job. 1959Economist 7 Mar. 876/1 Some harvesting can be done mechanically, but most crops still require back-breaking ‘stoop’ labour. 1972Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 23 Apr. 13/2 Most moved down to southern Ontario to do back-breaking stoop labor in its sugar-beet fields. 1979G. Swarthout Skeletons 89 There are eight million illegals in the country... It would be one thing if they were all agricultural—stoop labor, fruit- and produce-pickers, so on.
1898F. P. Dunne Mr. Dooley in Peace & War (1899) 179 Little Flora an' little Fauna playin' *stoop-tag aroun' a whale..or engagin' in some other spoort iv childhood! 1955W. Gaddis Recognitions i. iii. 146 The critics!.. They're like a bunch of old maids playing stoop-tag in an asparagus patch.
▪ V. † stoop, v.2 Obs. rare.
[f. stoop n.1]
trans. To mark out with ‘stoops’ or posts.
1663W. Blundell Crosby Rec. (1880) 222 This course, as it is now used upon the marshes..was stooped out by me..a.d. 1654. 1756in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 154 Ordered,..that the horse causeway..be repaired at the expence of the Corporation so for as it extends within our liberties; and to be stoop'd out.
▪ VI. stoop
var. stoup; obs. form of stupe. |