heehaw

American  

[hee-haw] / ˈhiˌhɔ /

noun

1. the braying sound made by a donkey.

2. rude laughter.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to bray.

heehaw British  

/ ˌhiːˈhɔː /

interjection

1. an imitation or representation of the braying sound of a donkey

---

Etymology

Origin of heehaw

An Americanism dating back to 1805–15; imitative gradational compound

Example Sentences

The result, Manohla Dargis wrote in her review for The Times, is a film that takes the form of “a mock, mocking documentary, one that disjointedly swings between heehaw comedy and wincing agony.”

From New York Times • May 31, 2021

They wear the traditional tuxedo colors, decorated with black bands, and emit a sound that resembles a donkey’s heehaw — hence their nickname, jackass.

From Washington Post • Sep. 1, 2016

"You can't bridle the wild ass of the desert," said Churchill after one painful portrait, "still less prohibit its natural heehaw."

From Time Magazine Archive

From Russia, his second treatment of a Fleming fiction, is an intentional heehaw at whodunits, an uproarious parody that may become a classic of caricature.

From Time Magazine Archive

Suppose thou art making an ass of thyself, young Harry Warrington, of Virginia! are there not people in England who heehaw too?

From The Virginians by Thackeray, William Makepeace