whoon.
/huː/, /wuː/, U.S. /hu/, /(h)wu/ 1. The characteristic hooting call of some species of owl; (in earliest use) an imitation of this. Also in later use: a hooting, whistling, or howling sound made by any of various animals and birds, such as whooper swans, whooping cranes, and some species of gibbon and monkey. Often duplicated.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by noises > voice or sound made by animal > [noun] > hooting or whooping sound
woo-hoo1656
whoo1706
pant-hoot1968
1706 T. D'Urfey Wonders in Sun iii. 50 There I keep my Father's Owls, There I feed 'em yearly. [Whoo, woo, mimicks an Owl.] Whooing here, Whooing there, Here a whoo, there a whoo, every where a whoo.
1894 Tuftonian 20 Oct. 20 The weird ‘whoo! whoo!’ of an owl breaks the stillness.
1902 W. Brewster in Bull. Mus. Compar. Zoöl. Harvard 41 77 The note of this Pigeon seemed to Mr. Frazar ‘more the hoo of an Owl than the coo of a Dove’.
1909 C. H. Sternberg Life of Fossil Hunter vi. 144 No sound broke the deep silence, except now and then the whoo of an owl as it called to its mate far away in the depth of the forest.
2001 D. Gibbs et al. Pigeons & Doves 289/2 Territorial song..starts with a hoo..hoo.. followed by a longer, slightly rising woooo.
2. An exclamation or utterance of ‘whoo’ (see whoo int. 1).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > cry or exclamation > [noun] > other specific cries or exclamations
O?c1225
heyc1400
hoc1405
whoopc1450
oha1535
ooh1602
whowb1602
phew1613
hogmanay1692
ah1712
yo-hope1724
whew1751
whoo1763
yah1812
yo-heave-ho1813
yoicks1817
yo-he-ho1827
yo1830
boo1833
yoick1854
hot-cha-cha1932
ooh-la-la1952
ooh-ah1957
eina1971
eish2005
1763 tr. A. Le Page du Pratz Hist. Louisiana I. iv. iii. 220 When he came before the hut of the deceased, he saluted him with a great hoo.
1840 Court & Lady's Mag. May 188 ‘Pat Casey abo' board,’ would ring from the opposite height, accompanied by the whild ‘whoo,’ so peculiar to the Irish.
1860 W. D. O'Connor Harrington xxii. 342 Both he and Roux were startled by..the apparition of Tugmutton..slapping over in a somerset.., coming up clean on his feet with a sober-staring face, and a low ‘Hoo!’.
1951 G. P. Evans Small-game Shooting xiv. 115 As each bird rose he greeted it with a loud ‘hoo’ of astonishment.
1998 Pop. Mech. Jan. 73/2 Two blinks later we're..on the verge of losing control. Miklos lets out a loud ‘whoo’ and backs off the throttle.
2020 Santa Fe New Mexican (Nexis) 4 Feb. c1 In the clip, viewers see Rawal explode with a ‘Whoo!’—his hands raised in the air in celebration, before hugging his rival.
3. A low rushing, whistling, or moaning sound, as of the wind, a missile travelling through the air, etc. Also reduplicated or extended.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > continuous or protracted sound > [noun] > rushing sound
rushinga1398
rusha1500
whither?a1505
whithering1787
rushingness1833
whoop1840
whoo1842
whooping1884
whooing1890
whoof1898
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > continuous or protracted sound > [noun] > rushing sound > of wind
hurlinga1398
whoo1842
windiness1879
huffle1889
suffling1904
wind noise1936
1842 T. Carlyle in Westm. Rev. Jan. 51 No answer; only the ever-moaning, gaunt, unsyllabled woo-woo of wind in empty churches!
1861 Dublin Univ. Mag. Nov. 527/2 The wind 'id begin again with such a hoo-hoo-o-o-high, you'd think it was laughing and crying, and hooting, all at once.
1890 T. C. DeLeon Four Years in Rebel Capitals xxix. 255 The air was black with flying shot and shell, and their wild whoo! made one continuous song through the sultry noon.
1918 L. M. Watt Heart of Soldier xiv. 189 The anti-aircraft shell-cases were coming down with a ‘whoo’.
1942 V. Swain Dollar Gold Piece xi. 98 No street sounds reached her, nothing but the whoo of a train down there by the river.
2019 TVEyes (Nexis) (transcript of TV programme) 1 Feb. Roy went to the desert, where he collected the ‘whoo!’ of the whistling wind.
4. A long, low moan or wail, regarded as the characteristic cry of a ghost. Often reduplicated or extended.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > cry or shout (loudness) > cry of emotion or pain > [noun] > wail or howl
yowlinga1225
yei?a1289
yollinga1300
howling1490
yowl?a1513
yawling1568
blayinga1586
whewling1609
howla1616
vagitusa1651
ululation?1799
gowl1805
waul1856
wow1862
whoo1891
blarting1898
ululance1951
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > cry or shout (loudness) > cry of emotion or pain > [noun] > moan or groan
groaningc1000
groanc1325
grank1513
moan1599
moaning1724
whoo1891
1891 Station Agent Nov. 132/1 After she had been visible for a moment or two, three piercing screams would be heard in rapid succession, and then she would disappear amid a peculiar blood-curdling woo-woo-woo.
1929 Edmonton (Alberta) Jrnl. 12 Oct. 29/7 If we stay here we won't even know it is Hallowe'en. (From off stage comes a ‘Whooooo’ ‘Whoooooo’ ‘Whoooooo’).
1998 I. Whybrow Little Wolf's Haunted Hall (1999) 13 He likes to come slidingly through the wall saying a terrible WOOOOO!
2007 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 28 Oct. 29 Many ghosts now leave the tomb unable to string two woooos together.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2021; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
whoov.
/huː/, /wuː/, U.S. /hu/, /(h)wu/ 1. Of a person.† b. transitive. To shout ‘whoo’ at (a person); to hoot derisively at. Obsolete. rare.
a. intransitive. To utter the exclamation ‘whoo’; to hoot or whoop in order to attract attention, to express disapproval or (now especially) excitement or enthusiasm.In quot. 1599 a person doing this is likened to a hooting owl; cf. sense 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > other vocal sounds > [verb (intransitive)] > whistle
whistlec1000
whewc1475
whoo1599
pipea1616
wheep1808
wheeple1818
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > other vocal sounds > [verb (intransitive)] > whoop or hoot
hoota1225
whoopc1390
whoo1599
to whoop out1704
1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. I4v He is gone vp and downe, whoing like an Owle for thee.
1769 S. Massey Cure for Spleen 10 There's no more to be said, Of what follow'd, But I neer shall forget how we guttled and eat, Whoo'd and hallow'd.
1834 Dublin Penny Jrnl. 19 Apr. 336/1 Peter rushed from the inner room, holding his cudgel with a fighting grip, and whooing, and hurrooing in the eagerness with which he was about to pursue.
1896 A. Blair Rantin Robin & Marget 43 They instantly began to ‘Hoo’ at Marget, an' some o' them flang a snawba at her.
1965 Amrita Bazar Patrika Puja Ann. 120/2 She smiled and hooed and asked the friend to wait.
2014 M. P Ziegfeld Breaking Out of Show Business 187 If you are whoo-ing and clapping, it's because you didn't think it ws funny enough to laugh.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > other vocal sounds > [verb (transitive)] > whoop or hoot
whoop1575
whoo1614
1614 N. Breton I would, & would Not xx. sig. Bv All the Beggers in the streets would whoo me.
2. intransitive. Of an owl: to make a hooting call. Later also: (of any of various animals or birds) to make a hooting, whistling, or howling sound. Occasionally also: to hoot in imitation of an owl.
ΚΠ
1706 T. D'Urfey Wonders in Sun iii. 50 There I keep my Father's Owls, There I feed 'em yearly. [Whoo, woo, mimicks an Owl.] Whooing here, Whooing there, Here a whoo, there a whoo, every where a whoo.
1810 A. Cunningham et al. Remains Nithsdale & Galloway Song 276 When the gray Howlet has three times hoo'd.
1935 R. Campbell Teak-wallah ii. 30 The great portals of rock..where monkeys whooed and the panther coughed raggedly.
2012 N. Baker Delusions xi. 141 The crickets chirped. The owl whooed. Dew dripped unsteadily to the forest floor.
3. intransitive. Of the wind, a flying missile, siren, etc.: to make a prolonged low whistling, rushing, or wailing sound.
ΚΠ
1858 Harvard Mag. Dec. 415 How the wind sighs and moans and ‘whoos’ round the walls of time-honored Massachusetts!
1865 Cornhill Mag. July 37 The West-countryman says the wind ‘hoois’, and the North-countryman that ‘it soughs’.
1917 H. de V. Stacpoole Sea Plunder ix. 142 Another shell came whooing and whining from the spectred Minerva before the white Pacific fog blotted her out.
1942 H. G. Felsen Jungle Highway i. 13 Muffled sirens ‘whoo-ed’ in hoarse tones... A bell clanged in the pilot house.
2014 A. Davies Using Festivals to Inspire & Engage Young Children 62 The wind is blowing at my door, it's whooshing, shooshing, whooing, whirring.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
whooint.
/huː/, /wuː/, /hwuː/, U.S. /hu/, /(h)wu/α. 1600s whooh, 1700s–1800s whoogh, Middle English– whoo.
β. 1500s– hoo, 1800s–1900s hu.
Also reduplicated, and with the final vowel repeated three or more times. 1. Representing a cry or exclamation used to attract attention, or to express various emotions or reactions, such as surprise, grief, or (now usually) exuberant excitement or delight. Also reduplicated.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > cry or exclamation > [interjection] > other specific cries or exclamations
oeOE
heya1225
ouc1300
we13..
hac1320
how1377
how now?c1380
vaha1382
ha a!c1386
ha ha!c1386
hoa1400
ohoa1400
yowc1440
yoa1475
heh1475
hey ho?c1475
huffc1485
wemaya1500
whewa1500
wow1513
huffa?1520
gup?1528
ist1540
whow1542
hougha1556
whoo1570
good-now1578
ooh1602
phew1604
highday1606
huh1608
whoo-whoop1611
sessaa1616
tara1672
hegh1723
hip1735
waugha1766
whoofa1766
jee1786
goody1796
yaw1797
hech1808
whoo-ee1811
whizz1812
yah1812
soh1815
sirs1816
how1817
quep1822
soho1825
ow1834
ouch1838
pfui1838
suz1844
shoo1845
yoop1847
upsadaisy1862
houp-la1870
hooch1871
nu1892
ouff1898
upsy1903
oo-er1909
ooh-wee1910
eina1913
oops1921
whoopsie1923
whoops-a-daisy1925
hot-cha-cha1929
upsadaisy1929
walla1929
hotcha1931
hi-de-ho1936
po po po1936
ho-de-ho1941
oh, oh1944
oopsy1956
chingas1984
bambi2007
1570 T. North tr. A. F. Doni Morall Philos. iii. f. 74 O here is a braue sight, looke, here is a goodly ieast, whoo, what bugge haue we here saide some.
1606 J. Bartlet Bk. Ayres xx. sig. L2v Poore Margerie cride whoo..did ring nights larum bell.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) ii. i. 104 Take my Cappe Iupiter, and I thanke thee: hoo, Martius comming home? View more context for this quotation
1675 Duke of Buckingham Rehearsal (ed. 3) v. 52 Smi. I had rather be bound to fight your Battle, I assure you, Sir. Bayes. Whoo [1672 Why]! there's it now: fight a Battle? there's the common error.
1787 F. Grose Provinc. Gloss. Whoo, whoo, an interjection, marking great surprize.
1796 F. Burney Camilla II. iii. v. 99 Pray can he really read? Whoo! says I, why he does nothing else.
1851 T. Carlyle Life J. Sterling ii. v. 190 A dreary pulpit or even conventicle manner; that flattest moaning hoo-hoo of predetermined pathos.
1883 J. Brinsley-Richards Seven Years at Eton 116 I heard a cry of Hoo! tug! and..had just time to see the wretched little colleger clattering down the staircase.
1911 T. E. Lawrence Home Lett. (1954) 154 [With reference to a double wedding celebration in Syria.] With a mighty firing of guns & pistols, and the hu-hu-hu and violent tahleel of the women.
2018 @jlsmith921 21 Nov. in twitter.com (accessed 18 Mar. 2021) Whoooo!!! What a great start to the day!
2. Representing the characteristic hooting call made by some species of owl. Later also: representing various hooting, whistling, or howling calls made by other animals and bird. Also reduplicated.Cf. tu-whit tu-whoo int., tu-whoo int. and n., whoop n.1 2, woo-hoo n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Strigiformes or owl > [interjection] > cry of owl
tu-whoo1579
whoo1581
tu-whit1591
tu-whit tu-whoo1594
woo-hoo1771
boo hoo1799
1581 P. Wiburn Checke or Reproofe M. Howlets Shreeching f. 103 Neuer crye hoo hoo, at the matter like an Owle.
1776 Weekly Museum 17 Feb. 483 The Thrush and the Lark..They do their warbling notes display;..King's-Fisher next appears in view, Lastly the Owl to cry whoo, whoo.
1785 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. II. ii. 543 Its [sc. a swan's] sound is, whoogh, whoogh, very loud and shrill, but not disagreeable.
1898 in S. W. Denton Pages from Naturalist's Diary (1949) 132 Some kind of owl is calling whoo every minute or so. I wonder if it is the great horned owl.
1956 E. H. Blackburn Land of Silver Spruce 155 As he cut across a brush-filled lot, he heard the hoot of an owl. ‘Whooo! Whooo!’
2013 C.-S. Tei Mouse Deer Kingdom 123 ‘Whoo—’ The whooping of a gibbon tears across the darkness, loud in the dead silence.
3. Representing a low rushing, whistling, wailing, or moaning sound, as made by the wind, a missile travelling through the air, etc.; (also) representing the sound of a siren, steam whistle, etc. Frequently reduplicated or extended.
ΚΠ
1844 Bradford Observe 22 Aug. 7/2 ‘Whoo! whoo!’ murmured the wind, as it sweapt through the withered bushes!
1889 L. Hearn Chita i. iv. 35 The Wind grew weird. It ceased being a breath; it became a Voice moaning across the world,—hooting,—uttering nightmare sounds,—Whoo!—Whoo!—Whoo!.
1901 E. W. B. Morrison With Guns in S. Afr. xxii. 156 I heard the crooning whistle.., and I thought for three seconds that..that shell was bound to land in the pit of my stomach. Whoo-oo-oo-oo, it swooped down over the heads of my section.
1936 Supreme Court Appellate Div. 4th Dept.: B. E. O'Brian against Highland Hosp. Rochester 223 Q. Do you know how a siren operates? A. Yes, sir... They go—‘Whoo,’ like that.
1976 J. McCloskey in J. Schultz Angels in my Oven 43 At 9:39 the Burlington rumbled by. A milk run. Whoooo. Whooooo. The whistle revived Joe.
1999 R. Francis Fat Hen (2000) 17 The wind went whoo suddenly.
4. Representing a long, low moan or wail, regarded as the characteristic cry of a ghost, and hence used to evoke an eerie or spooky atmosphere. Frequently extended or reduplicated.
ΚΠ
1889 tr. A. Dumas La Dame de Monsoreau II. xxxiii. 204 It really makes me sick to look at those fellows,—playing ghost, like little boys, and trying to frighten men by crying, ‘Hoo! hoo!’ [Fr. hou! hou!].
1915 Little Verses & Big Names 112 Tommy told a real ghost-story—A story that'd scare you, too, About seven little ghosts sitting up on seven posts, Saying ‘Woo! Woo-oo! Woo-oo-o!’
1939 Lake Park (Iowa) News 2 Nov. 3/1 Woo-woo 'tis the night of Hallowe'en Woo, Woo when such skeery things are seen.
1963 W. Hall & K. Waterhouse England our England 18 So far as we can gather, an English ghost always goes ‘Whooooo.’
2008 Independent (Nexis) 10 Feb. 34 ‘We used to get dressed up and stand by the side of the road at night going, wooo, wooo, like ghosts.’ She waves her arms and hunches her shoulders as if covered by an invisible white sheet.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2021; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1706
v.1599
int.1570