stope
English edit
Etymology edit
Apparently related to step, but with uncertain phonological development. Perhaps from a German Low German word like Stoop (“step”), from Middle Low German stōpe (“step”). More at stoop.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
stope (plural stopes)
- A mining excavation in the form of a terrace of steps.
- 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 318:
- The other smell […] that worked its way into your clothes, your skin, your spirit, believed here to rise by way of long-deserted drifts and stopes, from the everyday atmosphere of Hell itself.
Derived terms edit
Derived terms
Verb edit
stope (third-person singular simple present stopes, present participle stoping, simple past and past participle stoped)
- (mining) To excavate in the form of stopes.
- (mining) To fill in with rubbish, as a space from which the ore has been worked out.
Anagrams edit
Friulian edit
Etymology edit
From Latin stuppa, from Ancient Greek στύππη (stúppē).
Noun edit
stope f (plural stope)
Norwegian Nynorsk edit
Verb edit
stope
- past participle of stupa
Serbo-Croatian edit
Verb edit
stope (Cyrillic spelling стопе)