n.
- A shovellike utensil, usually having a deep curved dish and a short handle: a flour scoop.
- The amount that such a utensil can hold.
- A thick-handled cuplike utensil for dispensing balls of ice cream or other semisoft food, often having a sweeping band in the cup that is levered by the thumb to free the contents.
- A portion of food gathered with this utensil.
- A ladle; a dipper.
- An implement for bailing water from a boat.
- A narrow, spoon-shaped instrument for surgical extraction in cavities or cysts.
- The bucket or shovel, as of a dredge or backhoe.
- A hollow area; a cavity.
- An opening, as on the body of a motor vehicle, by which a fluid is directed inward: "The [sports car] has . . . enough scoops and spoilers to get you a citation just standing still" (Mark Weinstein).
- A scooping movement or action.
- Informal. An exclusive news story acquired by luck or initiative before a competitor.
- Informal. Current information or details: What's the scoop on the new neighbors?
- To take up or dip into with or as if with a scoop.
- To hollow out by digging.
- To gather or collect swiftly and unceremoniously; grab: scoop up a handful of jelly beans.
- Informal. To top or outmaneuver (a competitor) in acquiring and publishing an important news story.
[Middle English scope, from Middle Dutch and Middle Low German schōpe, bucket for bailing water.]
scooper scoop'er n.scoopful scoop'ful' n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
