Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Hoop \Hoop\, n. [OE. hope; akin to D. hoep, hoepel.]
   1. A pliant strip of wood or metal bent in a circular form,
      and united at the ends, for holding together the staves of
      casks, tubs, etc.

   2. A ring; a circular band; anything resembling a hoop, as
      the cylinder (cheese hoop) in which the curd is pressed in
      making cheese.

   3. A circle, or combination of circles, of thin whalebone,
      metal, or other elastic material, used for expanding the
      skirts of ladies' dresses; crinoline; -- used chiefly in
      the plural.

            Though stiff with hoops, and armed with ribs of
            whale.                                --Pope.

   4. A quart pot; -- so called because originally bound with
      hoops, like a barrel. Also, a portion of the contents
      measured by the distance between the hoops. [Obs.]

   5. An old measure of capacity, variously estimated at from
      one to four pecks. [Eng.] --Halliwell.

   {Bulge hoop}, {Chine hoop}, {Quarter hoop}, the hoop nearest
      the middle of a cask, that nearest the end, and the
      intermediate hoop between these two, respectively.

   {Flat hoop}, a wooden hoop dressed flat on both sides.

   {Half-round hoop}, a wooden hoop left rounding and undressed
      on the outside.

   {Hoop iron}, iron in thin narrow strips, used for making
      hoops.

   {Hoop lock}, the fastening for uniting the ends of wooden
      hoops by notching and interlocking them.

   {Hoop skirt}, a framework of hoops for expanding the skirts
      of a woman's dress; -- called also {hoop petticoat}.

   {Hoop snake} (Zo["o]l.), a harmless snake of the Southern
      United States ({Abaster erythrogrammus}); -- so called
      from the mistaken notion that it curves itself into a
      hoop, taking its tail into its mouth, and rolls along with
      great velocity.

   {Hoop tree} (Bot.), a small West Indian tree ({Melia
      sempervirens}), of the Mahogany family.