stoop

Etymology 1

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”).

noun

1. A stooping, bent position of the body.
   The old man walked with a stoop.
   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
2. An accelerated descent in flight, as that for an attack.
   At length the hawk got the upper hand, and made a rushing stoop at her quarry 1819, “Bracebridge Hall”, in Hawking, Washington Irving

verb

1. To bend the upper part of the body forward and downward to a half-squatting position; crouch.
   He stooped to tie his shoe-laces.
   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. December 28, 2010, Kevin Darlin, “West Brom 1 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC
2. To lower oneself; to demean or do 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?
3. (intransitive) Of a bird of prey: to swoop down on its prey.
   Presently the bird stooped and seized a salmon, and a violent struggle ensued. 1882, [1875], Thomas Bewick, James Reiveley, William Harvey, The Parlour Menagerie, 4th edition, page 63
4. (transitive) To cause to incline downward; to slant.
   to stoop a cask of liquor
5. (transitive) To cause to submit; to prostrate.
6. To yield; to submit; to bend, as by compulsion; to assume a position of humility or subjection.
7. To descend from rank or dignity; to condescend.
   1773, Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer:

Etymology 2

From Middle English stope, stoupe, from Old Norse staup (“dip, well, cup”), from Proto-Germanic *staupą, related to the verb *staupijaną (“to steep”). Related to Old English stēap (“drinking vessel, cup, flagon, stoop”).

noun

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

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Dutch stoep (“platform", "pavement”). Doublet of stoep. Cognate with step.

noun

1. (chiefly Northeastern US, chiefly New York, also Canada) The staircase and landing or porch leading to the entrance of a residence.
   Nearly all the houses were built with their gables to the streets and each had heavy wooden Dutch stoops, with seats, at its door. 1856, James Fenimore Cooper, Satanstoe or The Littlepage Manuscripts: A Tale of the Colony, London, page 110
   ...the entrance being at the side of the house and reached by a low front stoop with four or five risers... 1905 Carpentry and Building, vol. 27 (January 1905), NY: David Williams Company, page 2
2. (US) The threshold of a doorway, a doorstep.
   A short flight of iron steps leads up to it and a storm door is built over the stoop, forming a little vestibule, and serving to keep out the gusts. 1902, Gustav Kobbé, Signora: a child of the opera house, page 15
   You better hurry up and get strong, if you going to carry me across the stoop. 1975, Laurraine Goreau, Just Mahalia, Baby: The Mahalia Jackson Story, page 248
   Holding her breath while she set one foot over the stoop and followed it up into the house 1997, Peter S. Feibleman, A place without twilight, page 15
   She grins at me and lifts her walker over the stoop. 1999, Nora Gallagher, Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith, page 115

Etymology 4

From Middle English stoupe, stulpe, from Old Norse stólpi (“post, pillar”), from Proto-Germanic *stulpô.

noun

1. (dialect) A post or pillar, especially a gatepost or a support in a mine.