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scoop

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "scoop", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "scoop" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "scoop" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

scoop is aEnglishnoun. It means: Any cup-shaped or bowl-shaped tool, usually with a handle, used to lift and move loose or soft solid material. Pronounced /skuːp/. Often confused with sop and SCP.

Key facts for scoop
PropertyValue
Headwordscoop
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/skuːp/
Letters5
Frequency rank#11,455
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of scoop in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for scoop is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /skuːp/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,455 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 16 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for scoop, with forms such as "csoop", "sccoop", and "scoopp". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sop", "SCP", "stop", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English scope, schoupe, a borrowing from Middle Dutch scoep, scuep, schope, schoepe (“bucket for bailing water”) and Middle Dutch schoppe, scoppe, schuppe ("a scoop, shovel"; > Modern Dutch schop (“spade”)), from Proto-Germanic *skuppǭ, *skuppij… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is scoop, spelled S-C-O-O-P, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any cup-shaped or bowl-shaped tool, usually with a handle, used to lift and move loose or soft solid material.
  2. 2
    The amount or volume of loose or solid material held by a particular scoop.
  3. 3
    The act of scooping, or taking with a scoop or ladle; a motion with a scoop, as in dipping or shovelling.
  4. 4
    A story or fact; especially, news learned and reported before anyone else.
  5. 5
    An opening in a hood/bonnet or other body panel to admit air, usually for cooling the engine.
  6. 6
    The digging attachment on a front-end loader.
  7. 7
    A place hollowed out; a basinlike cavity; a hollow.
  8. 8
    A spoon-shaped surgical instrument, used in extracting certain substances or foreign bodies.
  9. 9
    A special spinal board used by emergency medical service staff that divides laterally to scoop up patients.
  10. 10
    A sweep; a stroke; a swoop.
  11. 11
    The peak of a cap.
  12. 12
    A hole on the playfield that catches a ball, but eventually returns it to play in one way or another.
  13. 13
    The raised end of a surfboard.
  14. 14
    A kind of floodlight with a reflector.
  15. 15
    A haul of money made through speculation.
  16. 16
    A note that begins slightly below and slides up to the target pitch.

Etymology

From Middle English scope, schoupe, a borrowing from Middle Dutch scoep, scuep, schope, schoepe (“bucket for bailing water”) and Middle Dutch schoppe, scoppe, schuppe ("a scoop, shovel"; > Modern Dutch schop (“spade”)), from Proto-Germanic *skuppǭ, *skuppijǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kep- (“to cut, to scrape, to hack”). Cognate with Old Frisian skuppe (“shovel”), Middle Low German schōpe (“scoop, shovel”), German Low German Schüppe, Schüpp (“shovel”), German Schüppe, Schippe (“shovel, spade”). Related to English shovel.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: csoop,sccoop,scoopp,scop,scopo,socop,sscoop

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for scoop

Misspelling Variants of "scoop"

csoop5sccoop6scoopp6scop4scopo5socop5sscoop6
Misspelling Variants of "scoop"

Frequency rank: #11,455 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "scoop"?
"scoop" is spelled S-C-O-O-P. The IPA pronunciation is /skuːp/.
What does "scoop" mean?
As a noun, "scoop" means: Any cup-shaped or bowl-shaped tool, usually with a handle, used to lift and move loose or soft solid material.
What words are commonly confused with "scoop"?
"scoop" is commonly confused with "sop", "SCP", "stop". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "scoop"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "scoop" is /skuːp/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "scoop"?
From Middle English scope, schoupe, a borrowing from Middle Dutch scoep, scuep, schope, schoepe (“bucket for bailing water”) and Middle Dutch schoppe, scoppe, schuppe ("a scoop, shovel"; > Modern Dutch schop (“spade”)), from Proto-Germanic *skuppǭ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.