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.
      [1913 Webster]

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

              making cheese.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

            Though stiff with hoops, and armed with ribs of
            whale.                                --Pope.
     
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   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.]
      [1913 Webster]

   5. An
         old measure of capacity, variously estimated at from
     
         one to four pecks. [Eng.] --Halliwell.
      [1913
         Webster]

   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 (Zool.), 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.
      [1913
         Webster]