stoup
Americannoun
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a basin for holy water, as at the entrance of a church.
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Scot. a pail or bucket.
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Scot. and North England.
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a drinking vessel, as a cup or tankard, of various sizes.
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the amount it holds.
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noun
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a small basin for holy water
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Also: stowp. dialect a bucket or drinking vessel
Etymology
Origin of stoup
1350–1400; Middle English stowp < Old Norse staup drinking vessel; cognate with Old English stēap flagon
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Father Marc Lyden-Smith said a police officer had smelled urine from a stoup and said he found it "incredible" anyone could do such a thing.
From BBC • Sep. 11, 2015
Holy water is used by Catholics to make the sign of the cross when they come into church and the stoup is usually by the entrance.
From BBC • Sep. 11, 2015
Near a doorway in the north wall is an excellent outside water stoup in a perfect state of preservation.
From Bournemouth, Poole & Christchurch by Haslehust, E. W.
Having made this self-confession, she stepped back into the doorway; and, standing upon the stoup, awaited the unwelcome visitor with an air of defiant indifference.
From The White Gauntlet by Reid, Mayne
The royal arms, with date 1662, are in a wall in the Abbey farmhouse; and the holy water stoup is under the pump in the school yard.
From Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood Historical, Anecdotal, Physiographical, and Archaeological, with Other Matter by Walter, James Conway
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
