loop

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈlüp 

1

a

: a curving or doubling of a line so as to form a closed or partly open curve within itself through which another line can be passed or into which a hook may be hooked

b

: such a fold of cord or ribbon serving as an ornament

2

a

: something shaped like or suggestive of a loop

b

: a circular airplane maneuver executed in the vertical plane

3

: a ring or curved piece used to form a fastening, handle, or catch

4

a

: a piece of film or magnetic tape whose ends are spliced together so as to project or play back the same material continuously

b

: a continuously repeated segment of music, dialogue, or images

a drum loop

5

: a series of instructions (as for a computer) that is repeated until a terminating condition is reached

6

: a select well-informed inner circle that is influential in decision making

out of the policy loop

7

: a closed electric circuit

8

: a sports league

loop

2 of 3

verb

looped; looping; loops

intransitive verb

1

: to make or form a loop

2

: to move in loops or in an arc

3

: to execute a loop in an airplane

transitive verb

1

a

: to make a loop in, on, or about

b

: to fasten with a loop

2

: to cause to move in an arc

3

: to join (two courses of loops) in knitting

4

: to connect (electric conductors) so as to complete a loop

loop

3 of 3

noun (2)

archaic

: loophole sense 2a

Phrases

for a loop

: into a state of amazement, confusion, or distress

the news threw us for a loop

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• band
• circle
• eye
• hoop
• ring
• round

Examples of loop in a Sentence

Verb

The road loops around the pond.

The necklace is long enough to loop twice around my neck.

She looped a string around her finger.

He sat with his arms looped around his knees.

The ball looped over the shortstop's head into left field for a single.

The batter hit a looping single to left field.

The batter looped a single to left field.

The quarterback looped a pass downfield.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Moonlight Canyon Trail is a roughly 2-mile loop in Agua Caliente County Park that traverses through a shady flat wash, up rocky hillsides and overlooks the desert and Vallecito Mountains. —Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Apr. 2024

Image Like many trends, this one loops back around to its source. —Adrienne Raphel, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2024

And those outputs, spewed across the web and likely used to train future language models, could create a feedback loop of degrading performance for thousands of languages. —Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 12 Apr. 2024

Other trails form loops through canyons and forests. —Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 11 Apr. 2024

With a padded laptop sleeve, pen loops, and various zippered pockets, this backpack fits everything on your desk into one cute and stylish bag. —L.a. Hubilla, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024

Before this year, only 17 men – and no women – had ever completed all five loops of the race, which covers somewhere between 100 and 130 miles and takes in 63,000 feet of elevation – more than twice the height of Mount Everest. —George Ramsay, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024

One need only look at e-commerce platforms as an example, which use AI to tailor shopping to a consumer’s exact tastes, keeping them in a loop of customized consumption. —Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024

Jackson County voters rejected a 40-year sales tax that would have helped pay for construction of a Royals ballpark immediately south of the downtown freeway loop in the East Crossroads and a major renovation of Arrowhead Stadium for the Chiefs. —Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 3 Apr. 2024

Verb

Parts of the ropes were tangled in trees, looped around branches and underwater — all sorts of things that added to the challenge of following the ropes and bringing the case attached to them back to land. —Hannah Kirby, Journal Sentinel, 16 Apr. 2024

The plans also call for a pathway to loop around the tower, accessible from Sunset Boulevard on both sides of the building. —Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024

There’s a bevy of music and performing arts troupes lined up in two parade waves to loop through Capitol Mall throughout an afternoon of joyful revelry. —Aaron Davis, Sacramento Bee, 3 Mar. 2024

Kayak along Salt Run, the estuarine tidal marsh, or hike the Ancient Dunes Nature Trail, which loops through a maritime hammock and four miles of beach. —Jp Shaffer, Miami Herald, 3 Apr. 2024

The content, looped again and again online, is highly effective, particularly in creating the perception of the threat of violence, said Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a political science professor at George Mason University who has studied social media’s impact on immigration. —Ken Bensinger Federico Rios, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024

Many of the trio’s songs have gone viral on TikTok, the app of choice for a post-internet generation accustomed to a world where seconds-long videos can loop forever. —Hattie Lindert, Rolling Stone, 14 Mar. 2024

Ivan, whose last name is being withheld, valued being able to start the process discreetly, without looping in his parents – although in the end his mother accompanied him to formally present the request. —Dominique Soguel, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Mar. 2024

The Montréal defense could only watch in horror as Acosta’s effort – intended as a pass – swerved in the air and looped over goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois to give Chicago the unlikeliest of wins in the 90+9th minute. —Sam Joseph, CNN, 17 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English loupe, of unknown origin

Noun (2)

Middle English loupe; perhaps akin to Middle Dutch lupen to watch, peer

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1832, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing loop

• closed loop
• for a loop
• ground loop
• Henle's loop
• in the loop
• knock for a loop
• Lippes loop
• loop of Henle
• loop the loop
• open loop
• out of the loop
• the loop
• throw (someone) for a loop
• toe loop

Kids Definition

loop

1 of 2 noun

ˈlüp 

1

: a fold or doubling of a line through which another line can be passed or into which a hook may be hooked

2

: a loop-shaped ornament, figure, bend, course, or device

a loop in a river

3

: a circular airplane maneuver involving flying upside down

4

: a complete electric circuit

5

: a piece of motion-picture film or magnetic tape whose ends are joined together to project or play back the same things continuously

6

: a series of instructions (as for a computer) that is repeated usually until a requirement for ending is met

loop

2 of 2 verb

1

: to make or form a loop

2

a

: to make a loop in, on, or about

b

: to fasten with a loop

3

: to perform a loop in an airplane

Medical Definition

loop

noun

ˈlüp 

1

: a curving or doubling of a line so as to form a closed or partly open curve within itself through which another line can be passed

2

a

: something (as an anatomical part) shaped like a loop see loop of henle lippes loop

b

: a surgical electrode in the form of a loop

3

: a fingerprint in which some of the papillary ridges make a single backward turn without any twist

4

: a wire usually of platinum bent at one end into a small loop (usually four millimeters in inside diameter) and used in transferring microorganisms