Stoop , n.
1. The act
of stooping, or bending the body forward; inclination forward; also, an habitual bend of the back and shoulders.
2. Descent, as from dignity or superiority; condescension; an act or position of humiliation.
Can any loyal
subject see
With patience such a stoop from sovereignty?
Dryden.
3. The fall of a bird on its prey; a swoop. L'Estrange.
Stoop , v. t. 1. To
bend forward and downward; to bow down; as, to stoop the body. "Have stooped
my neck." Shak.
2. To cause to incline downward; to slant; as,
to stoop a cask of liquor.
3. To cause to submit; to prostrate. [Obs.]
Many of those
whose states so tempt thine ears
Are stooped by death; and many left alive.
Chapman. 4. To degrade. [Obs.]
Shak.
Stoop , v. i. [imp. & p. p. Stooped (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Stooping.]
[OE. stoupen; akin to AS.
st&?;pian, OD.
stuypen, Icel. stūpa, Sw. stupa to fall, to tilt.
Cf 5th Steep.] 1. To bend the upper part of
the body downward and forward; to bend or lean
forward; to incline forward in standing or walking; to assume habitually a bent position.
2. To yield; to submit; to bend, as by compulsion; to assume a position of humility or subjection.
Mighty in her
ships stood Carthage long, . .
.
Yet stooped to Rome,
less wealthy, but more strong.
Dryden.
These are arts,
my prince,
In which your
Zama does not stoop to Rome.
Addison. 3. To descend from rank or dignity; to condescend. "She
stoops to conquer."
Goldsmith.
Where men of
great wealth stoop to husbandry, it multiplieth riches exceedingly.
Bacon. 4. To come down
as a hawk does on its prey; to pounce; to souse; to swoop.
The bird of Jove, stooped from his aëry tour,
Two birds of gayest plume before him drove.
Milton.
5. To sink when on
the wing; to
alight.
And stoop with closing pinions from above.
Dryden.
Cowering low
With blandishment, each bird stooped on his wing.
Milton. Syn. -- To lean; yield; submit; condescend; descend; cower; shrink.
Stoop , n. [Cf. Icel.
staup a knobby lump.]
A post fixed in
the earth. [Prov.
Eng.]
Stoop , n. [OE. stope, Icel. staup; akin to AS.
steáp, D. stoop, G. stauf, OHG.
stouph.]
A vessel
of liquor; a
flagon. [Written also stoup.]
Fetch me a stoop of liquor.
Shak.
Stoop (?), n. [D. stoep.]
(Arch.)
Originally, a covered porch with seats, at a
house door; the Dutch stoep as introduced by the Dutch into New York. Afterward, an out-of-door flight of stairs of from seven to
fourteen steps, with platform and parapets, leading to an
entrance door some distance above the street; the French perron. Hence, any porch, platform, entrance stairway, or small veranda, at a
house door. [U. S.]
Hear it pronounced