Stirrup — meaning, the ear bone, and why it's trending
Stirrup (noun): the loop, usually metal, that supports a rider's foot, hanging from a saddle. It also names the stapes — the stirrup-shaped bone in your middle ear, the smallest bone in the human body.
The three stirrups
- 1The riding stirrup
The metal loop hung from a saddle that takes the rider's foot — the original sense, from Old English stigrāp, literally "mounting rope." Historians credit its invention with changing cavalry: a braced rider could fight from horseback.
- 2The stirrup in your ear
The stapes is the third of the middle ear's three bones and the smallest bone in the body. Anatomists named it for its stirrup shape: hammer (malleus) → anvil (incus) → stirrup (stapes) pass sound to the inner ear.
- 3Stirrup pants
Leggings with a strap under the arch of the foot that keeps them taut — the strap is the "stirrup." The word surfaces in fashion and in puzzles as a kind of pant.
Why it's trending today
Stirrup was one of four words in today's NYT Connections group.
NYT Connections, Oct 27
Today's puzzle grouped ANVIL · CANAL · DRUM · STIRRUP as Parts of the Ear — incus, ear canal, eardrum, stapes. The everyday-object disguises made it the day's hard group, so the word is getting looked up.
Why the group stung
Every entry reads as a plain object before it reads as anatomy — anvil, canal, drum, stirrup. The mask is that each object's shape also named a piece of the ear.
The decoy
DRUM visibly wanted to join instrument words — a plausible dead end that pulled solvers away from the ear reading.
FAQ
What is a stirrup in the ear?
The stapes — the smallest bone in the human body, sitting in the middle ear between the incus (anvil) and the inner ear. Its looped shape genuinely resembles a saddle stirrup.
What are the three ear bones called?
Malleus, incus and stapes — better known by their nicknames hammer, anvil and stirrup, each named for the everyday object it resembles.
What were today's NYT Connections ear answers?
ANVIL (incus), CANAL (ear canal), DRUM (eardrum), STIRRUP (stapes) — the "Parts of the Ear" group in the Oct 27 puzzle.
Where does the word come from?
Old English stigrāp — "climbing rope" — from stigan (to mount) + rāp (rope). The saddle fitting came first; the bone took the name for its shape.