LOOP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does loop mean? 

• LOOP (noun)
  The noun LOOP has 10 senses:

1. fastener consisting of a metal ring for lining a small hole to permit the attachment of cords or lines

2. anything with a round or oval shape (formed by a curve that is closed and does not intersect itself)

3. (computer science) a single execution of a set of instructions that are to be repeated

4. an inner circle of advisors (especially under President Reagan)

5. the basic pattern of the human fingerprint

6. a computer program that performs a series of instructions repeatedly until some specified condition is satisfied

7. the topology of a network whose components are serially connected in such a way that the last component is connected to the first component

8. an intrauterine device in the shape of a loop

9. a complete electrical circuit around which current flows or a signal circulates

10. a flight maneuver; aircraft flies a complete circle in the vertical plane

  Familiarity information: LOOP used as a noun is familiar.

• LOOP (verb)
  The verb LOOP has 5 senses:

1. move in loops

2. make a loop in

3. fly loops, perform a loop

4. wind around something in coils or loops

5. fasten or join with a loop

  Familiarity information: LOOP used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LOOP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fastener consisting of a metal ring for lining a small hole to permit the attachment of cords or lines

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cringle; eyelet; grommet; grummet; loop

Hypernyms ("loop" is a kind of...):

fastener; fastening; fixing; holdfast (restraint that attaches to something or holds something in place)

Derivation:

loop (fasten or join with a loop)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Anything with a round or oval shape (formed by a curve that is closed and does not intersect itself)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Hypernyms ("loop" is a kind of...):

Jordan curve; simple closed curve (a closed curve that does not intersect itself)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "loop"):

band (a thin flat strip or loop of flexible material that goes around or over something else, typically to hold it together or as a decoration)

belt (endless loop of flexible material between two rotating shafts or pulleys)

drip loop (a downward hanging loop in a line that runs to a building)

noose; running noose; slip noose (a loop formed in a cord or rope by means of a slipknot; it binds tighter as the cord or rope is pulled)

lobe (the enhanced response of an antenna in a given direction as indicated by a loop in its radiation pattern)

bight (a loop in a rope)

Derivation:

loop (wind around something in coils or loops)

loop (make a loop in)

loopy (consisting of or covered with or having loops)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(computer science) a single execution of a set of instructions that are to be repeated

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

iteration; loop

Context example:

the solution took hundreds of iterations

Hypernyms ("loop" is a kind of...):

physical process; process (a sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states)

Domain category:

computer science; computing (the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An inner circle of advisors (especially under President Reagan)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Context example:

he's no longer in the loop

Hypernyms ("loop" is a kind of...):

camp; clique; coterie; ingroup; inner circle; pack (an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The basic pattern of the human fingerprint

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("loop" is a kind of...):

fingerprint (a print made by an impression of the ridges in the skin of a finger; often used for biometric identification in criminal investigations)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A computer program that performs a series of instructions repeatedly until some specified condition is satisfied

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("loop" is a kind of...):

computer program; computer programme; program; programme ((computer science) a sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute)

Sense 7

Meaning:

The topology of a network whose components are serially connected in such a way that the last component is connected to the first component

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

loop; loop topology

Hypernyms ("loop" is a kind of...):

network topology; topology (the configuration of a communication network)

Sense 8

Meaning:

An intrauterine device in the shape of a loop

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("loop" is a kind of...):

intrauterine device; IUD (contraceptive device consisting of a piece of bent plastic or metal that is inserted through the vagina into the uterus)

Sense 9

Meaning:

A complete electrical circuit around which current flows or a signal circulates

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

closed circuit; loop

Hypernyms ("loop" is a kind of...):

circuit; electric circuit; electrical circuit (an electrical device that provides a path for electrical current to flow)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "loop"):

parallel circuit; shunt circuit (a closed circuit in which the current divides into two or more paths before recombining to complete the circuit)

Sense 10

Meaning:

A flight maneuver; aircraft flies a complete circle in the vertical plane

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

loop; loop-the-loop

Hypernyms ("loop" is a kind of...):

airplane maneuver; flight maneuver (a maneuver executed by an aircraft)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "loop"):

inside loop (a loop consisting of a climb followed by inverted flight followed by a dive that returns to horizontal flight)

outside loop (a loop consisting of a dive followed by inverted flight followed by a climb that returns to horizontal flight)

Derivation:

loop (fly loops, perform a loop)

• LOOP (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they loop    ... he / she / it loops   
Past simple: looped   
Past participle: looped   
-ing form: looping   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move in loops

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The bicycle looped around the tree

Hypernyms (to "loop" is one way to...):

circle (move in a circular path above (someone or something))

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make a loop in

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

intertwine; loop

Context example:

loop a rope

Hypernyms (to "loop" is one way to...):

entwine; knit (tie or link together)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "loop"):

crochet; hook (make a piece of needlework by interlocking and looping thread with a hooked needle)

noose (make a noose in or of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

loop (anything with a round or oval shape (formed by a curve that is closed and does not intersect itself))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Fly loops, perform a loop

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

the stunt pilot looped his plane

Hypernyms (to "loop" is one way to...):

circle (move in a circular path above (someone or something))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

loop (a flight maneuver; aircraft flies a complete circle in the vertical plane)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Wind around something in coils or loops

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

coil; curl; loop

Hypernyms (to "loop" is one way to...):

roll; twine; wind; wrap (arrange or or coil around)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence examples:

They loop the wire around the stick
The wires loop around the stick

Derivation:

loop (anything with a round or oval shape (formed by a curve that is closed and does not intersect itself))

Sense 5

Meaning:

Fasten or join with a loop

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

He looped the watch through his belt

Hypernyms (to "loop" is one way to...):

bind; tie (fasten or secure with a rope, string, or cord)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

loop (fastener consisting of a metal ring for lining a small hole to permit the attachment of cords or lines)

 Context examples 

In contrast, bird breath travels in this tidal flow pattern through part of the respiratory system, but in a one-way loop throughout most of the lung.

(Following the lizard lung labyrinth, National Science Foundation)

The comet—officially named 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková—belongs to the Jupiter family of comets, frequent orbiters that loop around the Sun about every five to seven years.

(NASA Telescope Studies Quirky Comet 45P, NASA)

A device consisting of a narrow loop of material moving over shafts or pulleys.

(Belt Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

Treatment for cervical squamous intraepithelial neoplasia 3 may include cryotherapy, laser therapy, loop electrosurgical procedure (LEEP), or cone biopsy to remove or destroy the abnormal tissue.

(Cervical squamous intraepithelial neoplasia 3, NCI Dictionary)

Neso, the farthest-flung of them, orbits in a wildly elliptical loop that carries it nearly 46 million miles (74 million kilometers) away from the planet and takes 27 years to complete.

(NASA Finds Neptune Moons Locked in 'Dance of Avoidance', NASA)

Treatment for CIN 2 may include cryotherapy, laser therapy, loop electrosurgical procedure (LEEP), or cone biopsy to remove or destroy the abnormal tissue.

(CIN 2, NCI Dictionary)

An N-terminal ATP-binding site (P-loop) of Guanylate Kinase is not conserved in the MAGUK GK-like domain; MAGUKs do retain residues known in GK to bind GMP.

(Membrane-Associated Guanylate Kinase Family Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

A loop diuretic and active metabolite of its prodrug etozoline.

(Ozolinone, NCI Thesaurus)

Bouganin is a plant-derived ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP), a toxic plant N-glycosidase that depurinates the universally conserved alpha-sarcin loop of ribosomal rRNA, inactivating the ribosome and preventing protein synthesis.

(Citatuzumab Bogatox, NCI Thesaurus)

"Am I to drag my best dress through the dust, or loop it up, please, ma'am?"

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)