1
: a cage or small enclosure (as for poultry)
also : a small building for housing poultry
2
a
: a confined area
b
: jail

coop

2 of 3

verb

cooped; cooping; coops

transitive verb

1
: to confine in a restricted and often crowded area
usually used with up
children cooped up in the house all day
2
: to place or keep in a coop : pen
often used with up

co-op

3 of 3

noun (2)

ˈkō-ˌäp How to pronounce co-op (audio)
kō-ˈäp

Examples of coop in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The home, which dates back to the 18th century, sits on 150 acres in the idyllic Westchester County town and includes chicken yards and coops, a vegetable greenhouse and garden, stables, and several guest houses. Dobrina Zhekova, Travel + Leisure, 6 Nov. 2023 On a Foster Farms ranch that had housed more than a million chickens, mildew cut dark lines across the exterior of buildings where some chickens had drowned in their coops. Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2023 Melvin, who managed to make some chicken salad out of the crap scooped off the floor of Oakland’s coop, seemed perfect. Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Oct. 2023 Starke will share dishes like mediterranean chickpea salad and rose shortbread cookies in between documenting ranch projects like the installation of a new chicken coop. Angel Saunders, Peoplemag, 25 Oct. 2023 Back in the summer of 2000, a small group of diminutive, handcrafted clay chickens broke out of a coop and made cinema history. Alex Ritman, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Oct. 2023 In his dissenting vote against backyard coops, 1st ward alderperson John Moran said the city’s role of enforcing city standards on residential chicken coops would be a bigger issue than allowing for residences to have coops. Richard Requena, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2023 The wood-slat walls of a big chicken coop that for a while served as Castle’s makeshift studio merge into wood flooring and paneled furniture, creating a linear environment of stripes. Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2023 Expecting law enforcement to protect against right-wing violence is a bit like putting the fox in charge of guarding the chicken coop. Brynn Tannehill, The New Republic, 31 Aug. 2023
Verb
Play it coop with up to 4 friends, or go alone in an adventure of hack’n’slash rampage, with a pinch of rogue-lite, and some permadeath. Jacob Siegal, BGR, 31 May 2022 In fact, with the rise in the number and dollar value of luxury transactions in 2021, the ratio of resale condo sales to coop sales over $4 million rose to the highest since 2008. John Walkup, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2022
Noun
Some of those science classes are taught by Harper Mumford, another mom in the co-op. Sharon Lurye, Fortune, 27 Nov. 2023 When there was a mass winemaker exodus post-phylloxera, the farmers who stayed formed a wine co-op. Maya Kachroo-Levine, Travel + Leisure, 26 Nov. 2023 But in spite of the co-op’s efforts, and the availability of antivenin across the country, many challenges persist. Kamala Thiagarajan, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Nov. 2023 Or from Gordon, where the all-volunteer staff includes employees of a grocery store, bank, veterinary office and farmer’s co-op. Shannon Najmabadi, WSJ, 16 Nov. 2023 The arrangement the women formed is probably one of the longest-standing co-ops in the city. Theresa Vargas, Washington Post, 11 Nov. 2023 The buzziest games this year prove that gamers want old-school couch co-op Sept. 10, 2023 Like a costume designer for a film production, Valdez sources items from vintage shops, in regular stores and online. Sarah Parvini, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2023 To meet the changing needs of its customers in Northwest Arkansas, Crabtree said co-op stores now also carry lawn and garden products, pet food and pet toys, mulch, retail items and landscaping plants and materials. Lynn Kutter, Arkansas Online, 31 Oct. 2023 Its co-op mode, which includes both local and online play, also means players can work together to finish the game. WIRED, 20 Oct. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'coop.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English cupe; akin to Old English cȳpe basket

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1583, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1861, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of coop was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near coop

Cite this Entry

“Coop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coop. Accessed 9 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

coop

1 of 3 noun
: a cage or small enclosure or building for housing poultry or small animals

coop

2 of 3 verb
: to place or keep in or as if in a coop

co-op

3 of 3 noun
ˈkō-ˌäp,
kō-ˈäp

More from Merriam-Webster on coop

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!