STIRRUP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does stirrup mean? 

• STIRRUP (noun)
  The noun STIRRUP has 2 senses:

1. support consisting of metal loops into which rider's feet go

2. the stirrup-shaped ossicle that transmits sound from the incus to the cochlea

  Familiarity information: STIRRUP used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STIRRUP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Support consisting of metal loops into which rider's feet go

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

stirrup; stirrup iron

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

support (any device that bears the weight of another thing)

Holonyms ("stirrup" is a part of...):

saddle (a seat for the rider of a horse or other animal)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The stirrup-shaped ossicle that transmits sound from the incus to the cochlea

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

stapes; stirrup

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

auditory ossicle (ossicles of the middle ear that transmit acoustic vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear)

Holonyms ("stirrup" is a part of...):

middle ear; tympanic cavity; tympanum (the main cavity of the ear; between the eardrum and the inner ear)

 Context examples 

Mr. Dance told me to jump down and knock, and Dogger gave me a stirrup to descend by.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“I have sought you everywhere, dear Lady Maude,” said he in a piping voice, springing down from his horse and holding the stirrup.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The tediousness of a two hours' wait at Petty France, in which there was nothing to be done but to eat without being hungry, and loiter about without anything to see, next followed—and her admiration of the style in which they travelled, of the fashionable chaise and four—postilions handsomely liveried, rising so regularly in their stirrups, and numerous outriders properly mounted, sunk a little under this consequent inconvenience.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

“My lord,” said a rough-haired, dark-faced man, who walked by the knight's other stirrup, with his head sloped to catch all that he was saying.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Why, my lord,” quoth Ford, standing in his stirrups and shading his eyes, “it is old Hob Davidson, the fat miller of Milton!”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The Lady Tiphaine and her spouse sprang upon their steeds without setting feet to stirrup, and away they jingled down the white moonlit highway, with Sir Nigel at the lady's bridle-arm, and Ford a spear's length behind them.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For two hours they marched through forest and marshland, along the left bank of the river Aveyron; Sir Nigel riding behind his Company, with Alleyne at his right hand, and Johnston, the old master bowman, walking by his left stirrup.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)