stope

S1T1O1P3E1
[stoʊp]

noun

A mining excavation in the form of a terrace of steps.

OriginMiddle Low German stōpe →
RareScrabble 7
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Meanings

stope1

nounstope (plural stopes)

plural stopes

  1. A mining excavation in the form of a terrace of steps.

    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.

    2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 318
verbstope (third-person singular simple present stopes, present participle stoping, simple past and past participle stoped)

present singular third person stopes · participle present stoping · participle past stoped · past stoped

  1. businessTo excavate in the form of stopes.
  2. businessTo fill in with rubbish, as a space from which the ore has been worked out.

stope2

verb
  1. obsoletepastsimple past of step

Origin

  1. Middle Low Germanstōpe“step”
  2. Englishstope

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.

More words from Middle Low German

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

poetspestoposetestopstoep
Cite this entry
APA

stope. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stope

MLA

“stope.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stope. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stope,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stope.

Source: stope on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.