Bronx cheer

American

noun

a loud, abrasive, spluttering noise made with the lips and tongue to express contempt.

Bronx cheer British

noun

a loud noise, imitating a fart, made with the lips and tongue and expressing derision or contempt; raspberry

"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

Etymology

Origin of Bronx cheer

An Americanism dating back to 1925–30; named after the Bronx, a borough of New York City

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.

Then she leans over my digital recorder and gives a quick, wet Bronx cheer.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 13, 2025

The ever-obsequious Chris Cillizza, her drooling admirer, took the Berliners to task for the Bronx cheer:

From Slate • Jan. 31, 2024

Partly because we admire rebels and freethinkers, those who give a Bronx cheer to the stuffy power elite in any field.

From Washington Post • Apr. 21, 2023

Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, received a Bronx cheer when Davis introduced him to the audience.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 27, 2018

The three beer girls raised a raucous Bronx cheer.

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