loop

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A shape made when a line curves round and crosses itself.

   She tied the rope into a loop and hung it on the hook.

2. 2
   noun

   A sequence of actions or events that repeats from the beginning.

   The same advert played on a loop throughout the day.

3. 3
   verb

   To form something into a loop, or to fasten it with a loop.

   He looped the belt through the buckle and pulled it tight.

4. 4
   verb

   To move in a curved path that returns toward where it started.

   The road loops around the lake before heading back to town.

From Middle English loupe (“noose, loop”), earlier lowp-knot (“loop-knot”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse hlaup (“a run”), used in the sense of a "running knot", from hlaupa (“to leap”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną (“to leap, run”). Compare Swedish löp-knut (“loop-knot”), Danish løb-knude (“a running knot”), Danish løb (“a course”). More at leap. The verb is derived from the noun.

Topics