Hypertext Webster Gateway: "stirrup"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Stirrup \Stir"rup\, n. [OE. stirop, AS. stigr[=a]p; st[=i]gan to
mount, ascend + r[=a]p a rope; akin to G. stegreif a stirrup.
[root]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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Bridle iron \Bri"dle i`ron\ (Arch.)
A strong flat bar of iron, so bent as to support, as in a
stirrup, one end of a floor timber, etc., where no sufficient
bearing can be had; -- called also {stirrup} and {hanger}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
stirrup
n 1: support consisting of metal loops into which rider's feet go
[syn: {stirrup iron}]
2: the stirrup-shaped ossicle that transmits sound from the
incus to the cochlea [syn: {stapes}]
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