cheerio
Americaninterjection
-
goodbye; goodbye and good luck.
-
(formerly used as a toast to one's drinking companions.)
noun
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cheerios
plural
-
a goodbye or farewell.
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Older Use. a toast of “cheerio!”
-
a farewell greeting
-
a drinking toast
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cheerio
First recorded in 1905–10; see cheero; source of -i- is unclear
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:
"There was no way I could get up there and see her, say cheerio, or go to the funeral," he told the BBC.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2021
Rule Brittania, pip pip, cheerio and all that!
From New York Times ● Jul. 10, 2016
Pip-pip and cheerio, it's "The British Academy Film Awards 2015" — a.k.a. the BAFTAs — where Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" leads the field with 11 nominations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2015
I told them I had always thought of this funny term for umbrella as one of those words, like cheerio and old man, that the stage Englishman is required to say.
From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2011
So cheerio, old Pippin! and let's fly into the new piece.
From Merton of the Movies by Harry Leon Wilson
In it, Bru can be seen toting around his little one in the baby carrier as the baby bites off of cheerios hanging from the makeshift necklace he’s wearing.
From Fox News ● Jul. 14, 2021
For an encore, maybe he can toss cheerios into his guests mouths from across the table.
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2018
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.
