The Collaborative International Dictionary
Hoop \Hoop\, n. [OE. hope; akin to D. hoep, hoepel.]
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.
A ring; a circular band; anything resembling a hoop, as the cylinder (cheese hoop) in which the curd is pressed in making cheese.
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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. 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.]
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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.
Wiktionary
alt. A women's undergarment worn in various historical periods to hold the skirt extended into a fashionable shape, typically consisting of a fabric petticoat with casings to hold a stiffening material, variously rope, osiers, whalebone, steel, or nylon. n. A women's undergarment worn in various historical periods to hold the skirt extended into a fashionable shape, typically consisting of a fabric petticoat with casings to hold a stiffening material, variously rope, osiers, whalebone, steel, or nylon.
Wikipedia
A hoop skirt or hoopskirt is a women's undergarment worn in various periods to hold the skirt extended into a fashionable shape. Its Tudor name was a ' farthingale'.
It originated as a modest-sized mechanism for holding long skirts away from one's legs, to stay cooler in hot climates and to keep from tripping on the skirt during various activities. Small hoops might be worn by farmers and while working in the garden. Hoops were then adopted as a fashion item, and the size and scale of the hoops grew in grandeur.
Hoop skirts typically consist of a fabric petticoat sewn with channels designed to act as casings for stiffening materials, variously rope, osiers, whalebone, steel, or, from the mid-20th century, nylon.
Hoop skirts are called by various names in different periods:
- Farthingale ( Spanish verdugado) (16th century)
- Panniers or "side hoops" (18th century)
- Crinoline or crinolette (mid-19th century)
Lightweight hoop skirts, usually with nylon hoops, are worn today under very full-skirted wedding gowns. They can sometimes be seen in the gothic fashion scene. Reproduction hoop skirts are an essential part of living history costuming, including American Civil War reenactment.
Usage examples of "hoop skirt".
Here and there on the lush green lawns an immense copper beech spread its branches like a hoop skirt sequined with metal.
Normally she wouldn't care about such stupidity as a hoop skirt, but it was the only one she had and her dresses were all too long without it.
This is our cue to all look at poor Evie, poor, sad Evie, hairless and wearing nothing but ashes and circled by the wire cage of her burned-up hoop skirt.
I hiked the hoop skirt up to my knees and stepped off the platform.
Jemma stoodbackwards on the steps, the flounce of her lime-green flowered bathingsuit floating on the pool's surface like a hoop skirt.
Then I had to step out of the way to allow a woman to pass wearing a snow-white powdered wig and a hoop skirt that seemed five feet wide.
Angelica said, rising to her feet so quickly her hoop skirt swung, bumping against the chair behind her.
But seeing her in uniform somehow excited him in a way her hoop skirt and petticoats had not- this was the way she'd looked when he went to her cabin.
It was a one-piece dress, with the petticoat attached to the skirt like a detachable lining, and the bodice, cross-laced in front and tied in the back, was thus able to follow more or less the delicate contours of her bosom, depending on how tightly the bodice was laced Jeanne had laced it very tight' and through the open door O was able to see herself reflected In the bathroom mirror, slim and lost in the green satin which bfflowed at her hips, as a hoop skirt would have done.
The huge hoop skirt of the wedding gown brushed against the walls when she moved, her slender figure swaying above the skirt in the dramatic contrast of a tight, severe, long-sleeved bodice.