1
: a cage or small enclosure (as for poultry)
also : a small building for housing poultry
2
a
: a confined area
b
: jail

coop

2 of 3

verb

cooped; cooping; coops

transitive verb

1
: to confine in a restricted and often crowded area
usually used with up
children cooped up in the house all day
2
: to place or keep in a coop : pen
often used with up

co-op

3 of 3

noun (2)

ˈkō-ˌäp How to pronounce co-op (audio)
kō-ˈäp

Examples of coop in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
This year, Victoria surprised David, 48, with a very special gift — a coop full of chickens. Bailey Richards, Peoplemag, 31 Dec. 2023 There is also a former chicken coop that now hosts a cedar sauna. Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 3 Oct. 2023 Not surprisingly, her most popular character is a passive-aggressive mean girl who rules the coop during high school, only to peak before adulthood. Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 4 Mar. 2024 An old hen, with her little chickens, beat a quick retreat for the coop and she was all fussed up about being caught away from home by the darkness. Bill Bowden, arkansasonline.com, 18 Feb. 2024 Fruits and vegetables are grown on-site, and there’s a bee apiary and chicken coop. Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 23 Jan. 2024 Martha Stewart’s 150-plus-acre property in Bedford, N.Y., includes a farm with horse stables and a chicken coop, a fruit orchard, a peacock pen and seven stately houses. Ashley Wong, WSJ, 27 Nov. 2023 The fire started when heating pads in the chicken coop ignited straw, according to the release. Aegis Staff, Baltimore Sun, 25 Jan. 2024 Mason applauded the approach taken by wildlife gardener and part-time chicken-keeper Anne Berry of Chapel Hill, who has moved her songbird feeders away from the coop to the other side of her property as a precaution. Renee Elder, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024
Verb
Play it coop with up to 4 friends, or go alone in an adventure of hack’n’slash rampage, with a pinch of rogue-lite, and some permadeath. Jacob Siegal, BGR, 31 May 2022 In fact, with the rise in the number and dollar value of luxury transactions in 2021, the ratio of resale condo sales to coop sales over $4 million rose to the highest since 2008. John Walkup, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2022
Noun
While there’s no direct multiplayer or co-op, this mechanic is a great way to encourage camaraderie amongst other players. George Yang, Variety, 20 Mar. 2024 After getting out of prison a second time, in 2005, Mr. Crispo bought a co-op apartment and two ground-floor spaces in a residential tower in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, intending to open yet another gallery. Clay Risen, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2024 Over the years, the co-op has hosted a fair share of A-listers and celeb tenants. Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 18 Mar. 2024 Flamingo Camp strikes me as the most chill, put together encampment in Slab City, a site that focuses less on individual anarchic self-expression than a communal, co-op living situation in an area that’s basically off the grid. Jonah Gercke, SPIN, 15 Mar. 2024 Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 is a massive RPG that’s akin to playing a digital version of Dungeons & Dragons, either on your own or with a party of friends in co-op. Quentyn Kennemer, The Verge, 15 Mar. 2024 In the years since, the impromptu co-op, now called Oak Lane Maple, has grown into a full-fledged sugarbush (the term for a stand of trees used to make maple syrup). Ashley Stimpson, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024 There's a fun couch co-op mode where a second player controls a spectral, gooey version of Luigi to help solve puzzles. Louryn Strampe, WIRED, 10 Mar. 2024 Wang said that if your co-op limits outside investment (which Defector does), then there is no safety net if your product doesn’t work. Ariel Shapiro, The Verge, 7 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'coop.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English cupe; akin to Old English cȳpe basket

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1583, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1861, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of coop was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near coop

Cite this Entry

“Coop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coop. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

coop

1 of 3 noun
: a cage or small enclosure or building for housing poultry or small animals

coop

2 of 3 verb
: to place or keep in or as if in a coop

co-op

3 of 3 noun
ˈkō-ˌäp,
kō-ˈäp

More from Merriam-Webster on coop

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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