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boo-boo

[boo-boo]
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noun, plural boo-boos. Slang.
  1. a stupid or silly mistake; blunder.
  2. a minor injury.
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Origin of boo-boo

An Americanism dating back to 1950–55; baby talk
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for boo-boo

shock, loss, cramp, cut, bruise, burn, wound, damage, laceration, sore, suffering, abuse, trauma, fracture, swelling, scar, sprain, omission, misstep, aberration

Examples from the Web for boo-boo

Contemporary Examples of boo-boo

Historical Examples of boo-boo

  • "There's nothin' to boo-boo for," he said, with a half-affected brusqueness.

  • "'Boo-boo' was the exception that proves the rule," answered Jack hotly.

    What Timmy Did

    Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes

British Dictionary definitions for boo-boo

boo-boo

noun plural -boos
  1. informal an embarrassing mistake; blunder
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Word Origin for boo-boo

C20: perhaps from nursery talk; compare boohoo
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 boo-boo

n.

"mistake," 1954, apparently a reduplication of boob, which had acquired a secondary sense of "foolish mistake" (1934).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper