hoop n Cp DA ~ n 1 'wooden shoulder-yoke' (1851, 1857) obs for sense 1; OED hoop-stick 1 'thin pliable stick or sapling such as is used for making cask-hoops' (1703, 1704) for comb in sense 2.
1 Circular wooden device for carrying two pails of water.
[1900] 1989 Nfld Qtly lxxxv (2), 23 No one ever thought of carrying water without a hoop and never less than two buckets at a time. The hoop or circle was made from a birch limb, its ends fastened together.
2 Comb ~ mare, ~ stick (see quot).
1981 SPARKES xiv The hoopstick was smoothed and shaped on a special bench with a tightening device. This bench was a rather intricate contraption and, I suppose because the hoopmaker sat astride it, was called a hoopmare.
