boo-boo
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of boo-boo
An Americanism dating back to 1950–55; baby talk
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:
It might be your internet company’s fault, a boo-boo with your home equipment or interference from your neighbor’s Call of Duty game night.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 3, 2023
Some attestation forms seem impractical, requiring parents to interview their pre-school-age children about their health, when some that age can’t distinguish between a boo-boo and a sore throat.
From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2022
“Then everybody put a boo-boo on that. They said: ‘What are you doing, ratting on about that?’
From The Guardian ● Mar. 23, 2020
But to this young widow he was her “Kobe-Kobe, my boo-boo, my bae-boo, my papi chulo,” she said to the stage-side celebrities and everyday fans in seats high above.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2020
A mother is still the only one who can kiss a boo-boo and make it all well—explain that scientifically.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
“We have so many animals that have boo-boos in our book,” a brown-haired woman said in a singsong voice, holding up a book called “All Better!”
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 2, 2023
She has also gotten a couple of mulligans on biographical boo-boos.
From Fox News ● Oct. 9, 2019
Epic Fails of 2016 This new special surveys some of the biggest pop-culture boo-boos and celebrity blunders of the past 12 months.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2016
She rocks her dolls after boo-boos and pats her baby brother on the back when he falls.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2011
“Myrna Minkoff? Don’t gimme that foolishness, Ignatius. That girl’s in New York. I know you, boy. You musta really pulled some boo-boos at that Levy Pants.”
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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.
