DCHP-1 Online
stoop † [< Am.E < Du. stoep a small porch with benches] 
1 n. a porch or veranda, nowadays especially one at the back door, often unroofed.
See also: front stoop long stoop back stoop
- 1792 (1955) Many of the houses have a balcony or piazza of wood, erected in front, covered, and floored with the same material. This, the inhabitants term a stoop.
- 1833 (1838) The Canadians call the verandahs "stoups."
- 1885 He won't take "no" for an answer when parting with her on the stoop and asks for "just one."
- 1959 . . . there are plenty of them [houses] which look pretty snug and homey, as though they might have a nice stoop on the back equipped with a comfortable rocker.
2 n. a platform, usually by the back door of a house, erected to enable a person to reach a clothes line.
- 1957 It came up behind the buildings and took to moaning like a person in pain, and it followed him to the platform (stoop). . . .
- 1964 On clear washdays the women of the neighborhood came out onto little clothesline stoops in their husbands' old overcoats. . . .
- 1792 (1955) Many of the houses have a balcony or piazza of wood, erected in front, covered, and floored with the same material. This, the inhabitants term a stoop.