loops

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of loop.

   The pilot performed two tight loops over the airfield.

   Programmers often nest loops inside one another to process grids of data.

   Note

   A regular plural, made by adding -s, that covers every kind of loop: doubled-over rope, the opening it makes, a shape that curves around and crosses itself, a ring road, an endless strip of tape, a circuit for current. The same spelling serves as the verb's present-tense form, so context decides. The loops of a rope are things, while a rope that loops around a post is doing something.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of loop.

   The highway loops around the city center to avoid the old town.

   The recording loops endlessly until someone stops the playback.

   Note

   Most of the verb's meanings want an object. She loops the rope over a post, a pilot loops the plane, an editor loops a clip so it plays again and again, a technician loops components into a circuit. Without an object, the subject itself travels in a curve, usually followed by around: the road loops around the hill. If you can ask "loops what?", it is the transitive use.

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