| Stirrup 1. (n.) 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. 2. (v. i.) Any piece resembling in shape the stirrup of a saddle, and used as a support, clamp, etc. See Bridle iron. 3. (n.) A rope secured to a yard, with a thimble in its lower end for supporting a footrope. Thesaurus Entries Eustachian tube, anvil, auditory apparatus, auditory canal, auditory meatus, auditory nerve, auditory ossicles, auditory tube, auricle, basilar membrane, bellyband, bony labyrinth, cauliflower ear, cinch, cochlea, conch, concha, drumhead, ear, ear lobe, eardrum, endolymph, external ear, girt, girth, hammer, horn, incus, inner ear, jockey, lobe, lobule, lug, malleus, mastoid process, middle ear, organ of Corti, outer ear, oval window, perilymph, pinna, pommel, round window, secondary eardrum, semicircular canals, shell, stapes, surcingle, tympanic cavity, tympanic membrane, tympanum, vestibule |