Picking something up or digging something out using a scoop or a spoon-like motion, or in journalism, publishing a story before competitors.
From Middle Dutch 'schoep' (a bucket or spade), which entered English around the 1400s. The journalism meaning developed in the 1800s when reporters 'scooped' rivals by getting stories first.
The journalist meaning comes from the idea of 'scooping' other papers—like you're digging up the story before they can, which is why breaking news is called a 'scoop,' a word from bucket-digging!
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