Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Stirrup

Stir′rup (stẽr′rŭp or stĭr·; 277), n. [OE. stirop, AS. stigrāp; stīgan to mount, ascend + rāp a rope; akin to G. stegreif a stirrup. √164. See Sty, v. i., and Rope.] 1. A kind of ring, or bent piece of metal, wood, leather, or the like, horizontal in one part for receiving the foot of a rider, and attached by a strap to the saddle, — used to assist a person in mounting a horse, and to enable him to sit steadily in riding, as well as to relieve him by supporting a part of the weight of the body.

Our host upon his stirpoes stood anon. Chaucer.

2. (Carp. & Mach.) Any piece resembling in shape the stirrup of a saddle, and used as a support, clamp, etc. See Bridle iron.

3. (Naut.) A rope secured to a yard, with a thimble in its lower end for supporting a footrope. Totten.

Stirrup bone (Anat.), the stapes. — Stirrup cup, a parting cup taken after mounting. — Stirrup iron, an iron stirrup. — Stirrup leather, or Stirrup strap, the strap which attaches a stirrup to the saddle. See Stirrup, 1.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.