baa

[ba, bah]

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verb (used without object), baaed, baa·ing.

to make the sound of a sheep; bleat.

noun

the bleating cry of a sheep.

Origin of baa

First recorded in 1580–90; imitative

B.A.A.

Bachelor of Applied Arts.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for baa

blather, fuss, gripe, cry, whine, bluster, blat, maa

Examples from the Web for baa

Contemporary Examples of baa

We are here in full support of our close friends at the BAA.
Running Community in Shock Over Boston Marathon Bombings
Eliza Shapiro
April 15, 2013
As a result, the BAA became a prized, highly profitable business, much admired beyond the U.K.
The Secret Behind the Travel Mayhem
Clive Irving
December 21, 2010
BAA is majority owned by the Spanish company Ferrovial, which has a record of negligence.
European Travel Breakdown
Clive Irving
December 20, 2010

Historical Examples of baa

At last the third day also passed, and the fisherman had not even said baa.
Roumanian Fairy Tales
Various
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

(intr) to make the cry of a sheep; bleat

noun

the cry made by sheep

BAA

noun

the main airports operator in the United Kingdom; until privatization in 1987, an abbreviation for British Airports Authority

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.