ho
interjection
(used as a call to attract attention, sometimes specially used after a word denoting a destination).
ho
1 American
[hoh]
/ hoʊ /
interjection
-
(used as a call to attract attention, sometimes specially used after a word denoting a destination).
Westward ho! Land ho!
-
(used as an exclamation of surprise or delight.)
ho
2
American
[hoh]
/ hoʊ /
interjection
ho
3
American
[hoh]
/ hoʊ /
Or
hoe
noun
Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.
-
hos,
plural
-
hoes,
plural
-
ho's
plural
-
a sexually promiscuous woman.
-
a prostitute; whore.
-
a woman.
Ho
4
American
Symbol, Chemistry.
HO
5
American
[hoh]
/ hoʊ /
noun
ho.
6
American
abbreviation
H.O.
7
American
abbreviation
HO
1
British
abbreviation
-
head office
-
government Home Office
ho
2
British
/ həʊ /
interjection
-
Also: ho-ho. an imitation or representation of the sound of a deep laugh
-
an exclamation used to attract attention, announce a destination, etc
what ho!
land ho!
westward ho!
Ho
3
British
symbol
ho
4
British
/ həʊ /
noun
ho.
5
British
abbreviation
Usage
What does ho mean? Not to be confused with hoe (the gardening tool), a ho is an offensive term for a sex worker or a promiscuous woman. Some people use the term to insult women in general while some women have reclaimed the term. What are other forms of ho?hoe
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ho1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English; a natural exclamation
Origin of ho2
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English ho, who, from Old French ho, and Old Norse hō; see also whoa
Origin of ho3
First recorded in 1965–70; dialectal or African American Vernacular English pronunciation of whore
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That wall of sound barrage of guitars and then: “Hey, ho, let’s go!”
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
It is this that has led Sir Keir and the Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, to give Sir Olly Robbins the heave ho.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2026
We can hear his booming “ho, ho, ho” now.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2025
Forward, ho, the Dodgers adding three runs in the third and four in the sixth with Mookie Betts driving in four on a single and a triple.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2025
He could say "me, me, me" and "ho, ho, ho."
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
Tottenham counterpart Martin Ho says the onus is on clubs and players to ensure the product on the field is worth watching.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Str8 has an R&D operation in northern Taiwan, works with a shipyard in the southern Taiwan port of Kaohsiung and has a home office in Virginia, said Ho.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
Ho also hosted the 2022 Netflix show “Mind Your Manners.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
Danish company Pandora said the $150 million plant outside Ho Chi Minh City would create 7,000 local jobs and become the world's largest crafting facility for fine jewellery.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
When I get home from school, Gomo, who comes over to watch us during the day so Uhmma can sew clothes at the factory, is playing with Joon Ho.
From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na
Thales HO 0.39%increase; green up pointing triangle said more generous European defense budgets would boost sales this year and beyond, as fresh Middle East turmoil adds new impetus to a booming European defense sector.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
Surface analysis revealed that ZrN has a very thin layer of HO when it is undergoing ORR.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2023
YUN HO: “For me it would be our first album that has two title songs that are ‘Pirate King’ and ‘Treasure’.”
From Reuters ● Apr. 29, 2022
HO: My first suggestion is that you consider making a trip to see your folks that lasts long enough to actually get this train up and running.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2022
Thus, he interpreted the interaction of benzene and nitric acid as C6H6 + HNO3 = C6H5NO2 + H2O, the “residues” of benzene being C6H5 and H, and of nitric acid HO and NO2.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 1 "Châtelet" to "Chicago" by Various
Hundreds of others danced in circles and sang, “Hey hey, ho ho. White supremacy has got to go.”
From Washington Post ● Aug. 19, 2017
"Hi ho. ho hum, here I am in the middle of Africa," Mark wrote his mother exultantly, typing out a letter on his portable.
From Time Magazine Archive
“Ho ho. Gus Levy, detective. Don’t make me laugh. You probably wrote that letter one day after you won at the track and felt good. I knew it would end like this.”
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
“Oh, ho. Another Podgórska. What do you want?”
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
It begins: 'My honorable good Lord, as I have ben always most bound vnto yor ho., so I humbly besech you to stand my good Lord.'
From Devon, Its Moorlands, Streams and Coasts by Rosalind Northcote
“There’s very little in our product portfolio that has benefited from tariffs,” said H.O.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026
"It's essential for all of us to work to conserve fireflies," said Dr. Casey Sclar, Ph.D., the H.O.
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2023
“We want nothing but good things for the museum and its community, and that includes its neighbors,” said David H.O.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 10, 2022
“I strongly urge the global community to wait for the publication of the report from the W. H.O. mission,” he added.
From New York Times ● Mar. 4, 2021
Noël asked, and added that Dora had twopence and H.O. had a French halfpenny.
From New Treasure Seekers or, The Bastable Children in Search of a Fortune by E. (Edith) Nesbit
"Weel, Jamie, man, and ho's the wife and the wean the day?" he asked.
From Between You and Me by Sir Harry Lauder
Radisson's speech was received with "Ho, ho's" of applause.
From Pathfinders of the West Being the Thrilling Story of the Adventures of the Men Who Discovered the Great Northwest: Radisson, La Vérendrye, Lewis and Clark by Agnes C. (Agnes Christina) Laut
My appearance upon the door-step was the signal for a burst of deep and long-rolling, "Ho, ho's," and then the ceremony commenced.
From The Great Lone Land A Narrative of Travel and Adventure in the North-West of America by William Francis Butler
What are you doing …?” while the dancers, hand-in-hand in a semicircle, danced a round dance backwards and forwards in front of him with half-suppressed giggles, whispers, smirks, and ho, ho, ho's.
From Royal Highness by Thomas Mann
And right there, right in front of them big ornamental doors, we see Miss G. Washington Flamm, with about a thousand other carriages and wagons and Tally ho's and etcetry, and etcetry.
From Samantha at Saratoga by Marietta Holley
It can turn a century-old maker of back hoes and mining trucks into a hot tech stock.
From Barron's ● Jan. 13, 2026
One account said the Russians paid the Kashia Pomo people already living there “three blankets, two axes, three hoes, and a miscellaneous assortment of beads” for the use of the land.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2025
In scorching heat, they attacked solid ground with pickaxes and hoes before carefully tucking the seedlings into the earth.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 13, 2024
Officers were seen using rakes and hoes, strimmers and a small excavator to clear paths through the scrub on a nearby slope - the sound of machinery at work audible in the remote area.
From BBC ● May 25, 2023
We pounded the furrows with shovel blades and hoes, trying to break down the soil.
From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez
“A lab accident cannot be ruled out until there is sufficient evidence to do so and those results are openly shared,” Tedros and hos co-authors write.
From Science Magazine ● Oct. 13, 2021
Dr. Ralph Tremaglio was on the hos boat with his family when he heard three teenage boys yelling for help.
From Washington Times ● May 28, 2019
Businessman John Mazzarella of New York City was among a group of tourists forced to remain inside the Ledra Palace Hotel in Nicosia as hos tages of the Greeks against Turkish snip ers outside.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Such human hos tility makes children into bad adults," Mrs. Kellogg says.
From Time Magazine Archive
"He's a handsome hos, 'squire," said the man.
From The Wit and Humor of America, Volume IV. (of X.) by Marshall Pinckney Wilder
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