booby
1 Americannoun
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boobies
plural
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a stupid person; dunce.
-
a gannet of the genus Sula, having a bright bill, bright feet, or both: some are endangered.
noun
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boobies
plural
noun
-
an ignorant or foolish person
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the losing player in a game
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any of several tropical marine birds of the genus Sula : family Sulidae , order Pelecaniformes (pelicans, cormorants, etc). They have a straight stout bill and the plumage is white with darker markings Compare gannet
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of booby1
1590–1600; earlier pooby, apparently blend of poop to befool (now obsolete) and baby; booby 1 ( def. 2 ) perhaps by association with Spanish bobo < Latin balbus stuttering
Origin of booby2
1930–35, probably variant of earlier bubby
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:
Engineers with excavating equipment would be needed to dig through the tons of debris blocking entrances to Iran’s subterranean nuclear complexes and check for mines and booby traps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026
When I asked a senior White House official if they could speak to whether or not similar booby traps were contained in American communication devices I was rebuked; “I can’t speak to that.”
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2024
The multiple inches of rain dumped on the state mean that you can’t see whether the puddles ahead are benign or booby trapped with potentially axle-breaking potholes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2024
It was a still morning in March 1986, an edge of spring kind of day, and William McConnell was checking under his car for booby traps.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2024
Private First Class Ronald T. Roane and his dog Hobo look for booby traps, snipers, and other dangers.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
The best sequence in the whole film is their encounter with two posh suburbanites who simply can’t imagine they’re in danger, bounding right up to them like the Galapagos Islands’ blue-footed boobies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2025
Their modelling shows that if rats were removed from these 25 islands that could result in populations of lesser noddies, sooty terns and red-footed boobies recovering to nearly 24,000 breeding pairs -- an 18-fold increase.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 18, 2024
Researchers have observed siblings killing each other—siblicide—in many kinds of birds, including Verreaux’s eagles, ospreys, and blue-footed boobies.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 15, 2024
The Galápagos Islands are famed as a bizarre menagerie of blue-footed boobies, giant tortoises and seafaring iguanas.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 2, 2023
On their annual travels between the foothills and the shore, paleo-Indians seem to have visited the area periodically to feast on the cormorants and boobies that nested on the rocks by the beach.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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