STOOP, v.i.

1. The act of bending the body forward; inclination forward.
2. Descent from dignity or superiority; condescension. Can any loyal subject see / With patience such a stoop from sovereignty? – Dryden.
3. Fall of a bird on his prey.

The steps of a door. In New England, a stoop has a balustrade and seats on the sides.

1. A vessel of liquor; as, a stoop of wine or ale. Denham. – King.
2. A post fixed in the earth. [Local.]

1. To bend the body downward and forward; as, to stoop to pick up a book.
2. To bend or lean forward; to incline forward in standing or walking. We often see men stoop in standing or walking, either from habit or from age.
3. To yield; to submit; to bend by compulsion; as, Carthage at length stooped to Rome. – Dryden.
4. To descend from rank or dignity; to condescend. In modern days, attention to agriculture is not called stooping in men of property. Where men of great wealth stoop to husbandry, it multiplieth riches exceedingly. – Bacon.
5. To yield; to be inferior. These are arts, my prince, / In which our Zama does not stoop to Rome. – Addison.
6. To come down on prey, as a hawk. The bird of Jove stoop'd from his airy tour, / Two birds of gayest plume before him drove. – Milton.
7. To alight from the wing. And stoop with closing pinions from above. – Dryden.
8. To sink to a lower place. Cowering low / With blandishments, each bird stoop'd on his wing. – Milton.

1. To cause to incline downward; to sink; as to stoop a cask of liquor.
2. To cause to submit. [Little used.]

1. 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.]
2. A vessel of liquor; a flagon.
   
   
   [Written also stoup.]

   Fetch me a stoop of liquor. Shak.

3. A post fixed in the earth.
   
   
   [Prov. Eng.]
4. 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.
5. To bend forward and downward; to bow down; as, to stoop the body.
   
   
   "Have stooped my neck." Shak.
6. The act of stooping, or bending the body forward; inclination forward; also, an habitual bend of the back and shoulders.
7. 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.

8. To cause to incline downward; to slant; as, to stoop a cask of liquor.
9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. The fall of a bird on its prey; a swoop.
    
    
    L'Estrange.
13. 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.

14. To degrade.
    
    
    [Obs.] Shak.
15. 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.