baa
verb (used without object)
to make the sound of a sheep; bleat.
baa
1 American
[ba, bah]
/ bæ, bɑ /
verb (used without object)
-
baas,
present (3rd person singular)
-
baaed,
past participle, past
-
baaing
present participle
noun
-
baas
plural
B.A.A.
2
American
abbreviation
baa
1
British
/ bɑː /
verb
noun
BAA
2
British
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
baasimple
-
baassimple
-
have baaedperfect
-
has baaedperfect
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am baaingprogressive
-
are baaingprogressive
-
is baaingprogressive
-
have been baaingperfect progressive
-
has been baaingperfect progressive
Past
-
baaedsimple
-
had baaedperfect
-
was baaingprogressive
-
were baaingprogressive
-
had been baaingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of baa
First recorded in 1580–90; imitative
Explanation
Use the word baa to describe the sound a sheep makes. A lamb might baa for its mother if it finds itself alone. Every language has words that mimic the cries and noises animals make, and in English sheep and goats baa. In Dutch, sheep say bè bè, and in Japanese they say meh meh. The imitative word baa, first recorded in the late 1500s, can be either a noun or a verb, depending how you use it. Baa makes a famous appearance in the well-known children's song "Baa baa Black Sheep."
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:
All baa myself: Is this Britain's loneliest sheep?
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2023
Bleat, baa, and ragdoll your way through the world getting up to all kinds of goat-flavored shenanigans.
From The Verge ● Aug. 23, 2022
He’s all baa and no humbug in the new animated adventure “Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 28, 2021
They will bleat and baa and maybe even butt heads.
From New York Times ● Aug. 27, 2017
Louisa laughed and teased and goaded like a goblin; and what was worse, she told the other children, and incited them to "baa" quietly whenever Tristran walked past.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
So, Grilk was asked, any chance the B.A.A. might decide they like the fall better and go for a permanent switch?
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 10, 2021
"The B.A.A. is tremendously saddened to learn of the passing of Boston Marathon icon Dick Hoyt," the organization said in a statement.
From Fox News ● Mar. 18, 2021
“The B.A.A. is tremendously saddened to learn of the passing of Boston Marathon icon Dick Hoyt,” the organization said in a statement.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 17, 2021
“Every year it’s gratifying to see the positive impact that the Boston Marathon shares with its surrounding communities,” said B.A.A.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 10, 2018
Before the 1949-50 season, the B.A.A. and the N.B.L. merged to form the N.B.A.
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2016
This spring, the BAA said it would add minutes to times of runners who use downhill courses to qualify.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2025
He was in a meeting with about 30 other survivors when they all got an email from the BAA offering a chance to run the race the following year.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 13, 2023
If approved, an athlete will be eligible to receive a deferred entry into one of the next two years’ BAA races.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 2, 2023
The BAA had said in October that it would annul Kipyokei’s result pending completion of the AIU investigation and sanction announcement.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
"We will review all children where the audit and reviews by BAA have raised concerns and will share any identified assessments that were not carried out to the required standard," she said.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2022
In Chicago this week, amid bellows, oinks, neighs and baas, with the skirl of a bagpipe band, exuberant farmers gathered for the 42nd International Livestock Exposition.
From Time Magazine Archive
Said a rival: "Lady Caroline baas like a little sheep."
From Time Magazine Archive
In their tongue B.A.A.S. would spell revolting baas, "master," "boss."
From Time Magazine Archive
No one was calling me baas and master any longer.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
“The baas will be with you shortly,” he said.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
That followed a French operetta duet that had Felicity Lott making turkey noises while Maltman baaed like a sheep.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 30, 2012
If Dolly the cloned sheep had been able to talk, would she have chased those Scottish scientists into their lab and baaed for explanations?
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2012
Finding herself separated from her companions, she wanted to rejoin them, and the more Gudbrand tugged at her tether, the more piteously she baaed.
From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 3, March, 1862 by Various
His views are vast, but they are baaed on good sense, and he is most determinedly serious when he sets to work.
From A Publisher and His Friends Memoir and Correspondence of John Murray; with an Account of the Origin and Progress of the House, 1768-1843 by Smiles, Samuel
"Yes, that is it," baaed Billy, but of course the man did not understand what Billy was saying to him.
From Billy Whiskers' Adventures by Hawthorne, Paul
As he passionately delivers the final choruses, two actors in sheep hats pop up and sing along with him, baaing the titular lyrics to big audience laughs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2021
At the Joneslan Farm, on a dirt road with views of mountains, the goats erupt into baaing and crowd the fences inside the barn to inspect anyone who walks in as they munch on hay.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2021
On the lawn in front of Isabella Rossellini’s house, an elegant barn-to-home conversion in a chicly rural corner of Long Island, a few of them stood around baaing, waiting for their person to emerge.
From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 2020
We had to stop twice while herds of sheep, baaing and clanging their way down from their summer pastures to winter ones, engulfed our car for several minutes.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 1, 2018
But before long the baaing of sheep drowned them all out.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
