verb

stoop

verb

To bend the body forward and down.

"He had to stoop to get through the low doorway."

"She stooped to pick up the dropped keys."

To lower oneself morally by doing something beneath one's standards.

"I never thought he'd stoop to lying about his own colleagues."

noun

A small staircase or platform leading up to a house entrance, especially in American row houses.

"Neighbours sat out on their stoops on warm summer evenings."

How to Use Stoop

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishBending your body down, or (figuratively) lowering yourself to do something wrong; also, US English for the steps up to a front door.

UK vs US

The porch-steps sense ("stoop") is chiefly American, especially in New York; British English would usually just say "steps" or "doorstep".

Common pairings

stoop to conquer stoop down sit on the stoop

stooped past tense, stoops plural, stoops plural, stoops plural, stoops plural, stoops singular

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He had to _____ to get through the low doorway.

From Old English stūpian ("to bow, bend"), a Germanic word related to Dutch stuipen and Old Norse stúpa, both meaning to bend forward.

bend down crouch squat

crouch squat

OOP hoop coop loop goop roop boop sloop bloop troop whoop droop

bend down crouch squat