cheerio

[ cheer-ee-oh, cheer-ee-oh ]

/ ˈtʃɪər iˌoʊ, ˌtʃɪər iˈoʊ /

Chiefly British

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interjection

goodbye; goodbye and good luck.

(used as a toast to one's drinking companions.)

noun, plural cheer·i·os.

a goodbye or farewell.

a toast of “cheerio!”

Nearby words

cheer on, cheer up, cheerer-upper, cheerful, cheerfully, cheerio, cheerlead, cheerleader, cheerleading, cheerless, cheerlessly

Origin of cheerio

1905–10; see cheero; source of -i- is unclear

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cheerio

"Hello, old thing, cheerio and all the rest of it," Huntsman whinnied lovingly.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 153, Oct. 24, 1917|Various
Then he bent over her hand in a fashion more courtly than the “Cheerio!”
The Golden Face|William Le Queux
Well, cheerio, and good hunting, and all that sort of thing.
Dave Dawson at Casablanca|Robert Sydney Bowen

British Dictionary definitions for cheerio

cheerio

/ (ˌtʃɪərɪˈəʊ) /

sentence substitute informal, mainly British

a farewell greeting

a drinking toast

noun

NZ a type of small sausage

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