What might 'unhooped oceans' mean in this passage of Melville?

Question

I came across the word in question in the following passage from Moby-Dick:

Now, to any one not fully acquainted with the ways of the leviathans, it might seem an absurdly hopeless task thus to seek out one solitary creature in the unhooped oceans of this planet. But not so did it seem to Ahab, who knew the sets of all tides and currents; and thereby calculating the driftings of the sperm whale’s food; [...]

Methinks it means borderless, yet not being quite sure about it I looked up the word in more than one dictionary. Sadly, none of the dictionaries I consulted describes any other meaning than the word's literal meaning (i.e. not containing hoops). What do y'all think?

Cascabel · Accepted Answer

I suspect it comes from the concept of contained bodies of water/beer/ wine/whisky and especially  whale oil within  a vessel (such as a barrel).
 Empty barrels waiting to be loaded onto whaling ships of the 1800s
*note that each hoop has its own name (ex french etc) from the trade. (not covered in this post)

hoop

A circular band of metal, wood, or similar material, especially one used for binding the staves of barrels or forming part of a framework.

Lexico
So, "unhooped" would mean:
boundless

unlimited or immense.

Lexico
Also:
unrestrained
Lexico
See also: hoop (v) Etymonline:

[Edit]
It has been suggested (thank you @Flynn) that the latitude and longitude lines of a world map might also make sense....meaning "uncharted".

Fattie · Answer

Singular usage words in literature like this have no "meaning" that anyone (even the author) can write down.   A famous example is

"My salad days..."

from Shakespeare.  Nobody has the slightest clue what this means, but it's very obvious what it means.  Remember too that we live in a great poetic era,

"I am the Walrus..."

"The movement you need is on your shoulder..."

from Misters Lennon & McCartney respectively.  It's completely obvious what is "meant" - you are instantly and with total crystal clarity given something very specific - but you can't "look up the meaning".
Literary, suggestive, highly intense language like this delivers you a kick in the gut, and a very clear kick in the gut.  But like when you look at a Caravaggio and get a Caravaggio kick in the gut, you can't write down the "meaning" or "reason" ("because of the blue color here" or the like).
Nominally "unhooped" means "a barrel with the hoops taken off", a word a cooper might use.
The only sense in which you can "state the meaning" is that a group of folks could discuss the, for want of a better word, impression, sense, emotion that is conveyed to each of them.
For me it makes me think of something not yet constructed, not yet figured-out (but then, my grandfather was in the cooperage business), so for example nowadays the oceans, even the moon, is certainly "hooped" by mankind and our technology; for others it might convey or "mean" something smashed apart, 100s of gallons of liquid flying around willy-nilly.
(I guess this issue is constant for translators. One could translate that as a range of things .. unknown, chaotic, not yet conquered, on the edge of falling apart at any moment .. etc .. all different.)

What might 'unhooped oceans' mean in this passage of Melville?

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