hoops

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
hoop/huːp/

▶noun

• 1 a rigid circular band, especially one used for binding the staves of barrels or forming a framework.

  ■ a large ring used as a toy or for circus performers to jump through.

  ■ historical a circle of flexible material used to expand a woman's petticoat.

• 2 a metal arch through which the balls are hit in croquet.

• 3 a contrasting horizontal band on a sports shirt or cap.

• 4 Austral. informal a jockey.

▶verb bind or encircle with hoops.

– phrases
put someone (or go) through the hoops make someone undergo (or be made to undergo) a gruelling test.

– derivatives
hooped adjective.

– origin OE hōp, of W. Gmc origin.