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baa

[ba, bah]
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verb (used without object), baaed, baa·ing.
  1. to make the sound of a sheep; bleat.
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noun
  1. the bleating cry of a sheep.
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Origin of baa

First recorded in 1580–90; imitative

B.A.A.

  1. Bachelor of Applied Arts.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for baa

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • At last the third day also passed, and the fisherman had not even said baa.

  • When he called "Nanny" it answered him instantly with a plaintive "Baa!"

    A Boy's Town

    W. D. Howells

  • So they treat you like a fool, and you put up with it and baa after them!

    Pelle the Conqueror, Complete

    Martin Anderson Nexo

  • But outwardly he was hopelessly tame; outwardly—baa, baa, baa.

    Crome Yellow

    Aldous Huxley

  • I would like to baa at him again, but I dare not with all these foreign folk.

    By What Authority?

    Robert Hugh Benson

British Dictionary definitions for baa

baa

verb baas, baaing or baaed
  1. (intr) to make the cry of a sheep; bleat
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noun
  1. the cry made by sheep
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BAA

noun
  1. the main airports operator in the United Kingdom; until privatization in 1987, an abbreviation for British Airports Authority
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for baa

imitative sound of a sheep, attested from 1580s, but probably older, as baa is recorded before this a name for a child's toy sheep.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper