scoop

[ skoop ]
See synonyms for scoop on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a ladle or ladlelike utensil, especially a small, deep-sided shovel with a short, horizontal handle, for taking up flour, sugar, etc.

  2. a utensil composed of a palm-sized hollow hemisphere attached to a horizontal handle, for dishing out ice cream or other soft foods.

  1. a hemispherical portion of food as dished out by such a utensil: two scoops of chocolate ice cream.

  2. the bucket of a dredge, steam shovel, etc.

  3. Surgery. a spoonlike apparatus for removing substances or foreign objects from the body.

  4. a hollow or hollowed-out place.

  5. the act of ladling, dipping, dredging, etc.

  6. the quantity held in a ladle, dipper, shovel, bucket, etc.

  7. Journalism. a news item, report, or story first revealed in one paper, magazine, newscast, etc.; beat.

  8. Informal. news, information, or details, especially as obtained from experience or an immediate source: What's the scoop on working this machine?

  9. a gathering to oneself or lifting with the arms or hands.

  10. Informal. a big haul, as of money.

  11. Television, Movies. a single large floodlight shaped like a flour scoop.

verb (used with object)
  1. to take up or out with or as if with a scoop.

  2. to empty with a scoop.

  1. to form a hollow or hollows in.

  2. to form with or as if with a scoop.

  3. to get the better of (other publications, newscasters, etc.) by obtaining and publishing or broadcasting a news item, report, or story first: They scooped all the other dailies with the story of the election fraud.

  4. to gather up or to oneself or to put hastily by a sweeping motion of one's arms or hands: He scooped the money into his pocket.

verb (used without object)
  1. to remove or gather something with or as if with a scoop: to scoop with a ridiculously small shovel.

Origin of scoop

1
1300–50; (noun) Middle English scope<Middle Dutch schōpe; (v.) Middle English scopen, derivative of the noun

Other words from scoop

  • scooper, noun
  • outscoop, verb (used with object)
  • un·der·scoop, noun
  • un·der·scoop, verb (used with object)
  • un·scooped, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use scoop in a sentence

  • In this connection also may be mentioned ladles, fish slicers, and scoops.

    Chats on Household Curios | Fred W. Burgess
  • Wooden bowls, scoops, and other articles occur among the remains of the lake-dwellings.

  • Had ever a journalist such an opening and so little chance of using it—the scoop of scoops, and no one to appreciate it?

    The Poison Belt | Arthur Conan Doyle
  • As soon as cold weather comes on he digs a hole in the ground, or scoops out a place under some brush, and turns in.

  • Some kneeled down, made scoops of their two hands joined, and tried to sip before the wine had all run out between their fingers.

    The World's Greatest Books, Vol III | Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton, Eds.

British Dictionary definitions for scoop

scoop

/ (skuːp) /


noun
  1. a utensil used as a shovel or ladle, esp a small shovel with deep sides and a short handle, used for taking up flour, corn, etc

  2. a utensil with a long handle and round bowl used for dispensing liquids

  1. a utensil with a round bowl and short handle, sometimes with a mechanical device to empty the bowl, for serving ice cream or mashed potato

  2. anything that resembles a scoop in action, such as the bucket on a dredge

  3. a spoonlike surgical instrument for scraping or extracting foreign matter, etc, from the body

  4. the quantity taken up by a scoop

  5. the act of scooping, dredging, etc

  6. a hollow cavity

  7. slang a large quick gain, as of money

  8. a news story reported in one newspaper before all the others; an exclusive

  9. any sensational piece of news

verb(mainly tr)
  1. (often foll by up) to take up and remove (an object or substance) with or as if with a scoop

  2. (often foll by out) to hollow out with or as if with a scoop: to scoop a hole in a hillside

  1. to win (a prize, award, or large amount of money)

  2. to beat (rival newspapers) in uncovering a news item

  3. sport to hit (the ball) on its underside so that it rises into the air

Origin of scoop

1
C14: via Middle Dutch schōpe from Germanic; compare Old High German scephan to ladle, German schöpfen, Schaufel shovel, Dutch schoep vessel for baling

Derived forms of scoop

  • scooper, noun
  • scoopful, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012