noun
coop
koop
noun
1
A small pen or cage for keeping poultry or other small animals.
"She let the hens out of the coop every morning."
2
(informal) A jail or other confined place.
"He spent the night in the coop after the bar fight."
verb
1
To confine someone or something in a small space (usually as "cooped up").
"The kids were cooped up indoors all week because of the rain."
How to Use Coop
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA small enclosure for animals like chickens, or (informally) being shut up in a confined space or in jail.
Common pairings
chicken coop
cooped up
fly the coop
Word Forms
cooped past tense, coops plural, coops plural, coops plural, Coops plural, Coops plural, coops singular
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Etymology
From Old English cȳpe ("basket, cask"), likely related to Dutch and Low German words for a cask or container — the sense narrowed over time to mean a pen for animals.