stope
[stoʊp]
stope noun: a mining excavation in the form of a terrace of steps. Also the simple past of step.
Noun
stope (plural stopes)
- 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
Verb
stope (third-person singular simple present stopes, present participle stoping, simple past and past participle stoped)
Also used as
stope is also the simple past of step.
Forms of stope
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | stopes |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | stopes |
| present participle | stoping |
| past participle | stoped |
| past | stoped |
Origin of stope
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.
Words formed from stope
- stope assay plan
- stope board
- stope fillings
- stope hoist
- stope pillar
- stoper
Questions about stope
- What does stope mean?
- Stope means a mining excavation in the form of a terrace of steps.
- What part of speech is stope?
- Stope can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce stope?
- Stope is pronounced [stoʊp].
- What is the plural of stope?
- The plural of stope is stopes.
Words near stope in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: stope (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “stope.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/stope. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.