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heigh-ho

[hahy-hoh, hey-]
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interjection
  1. (an exclamation of surprise, exultation, melancholy, boredom, or weariness.)
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Origin of heigh-ho

First recorded in 1545–55
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for heigh-ho

Historical Examples

  • Heigh-ho, it makes me sigh to think there are so few children in 1853.

    Little Ferns For Fanny's Little Friends

    Fanny Fern

  • Heigh-ho for hard work, and lodgings at fifteen shillings a week!

    The Independence of Claire

    Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey

  • Well, you are very young, and I want to keep you still a boy; but, heigh-ho!

    In Honour's Cause

    George Manville Fenn

  • Here is a whole cargo of silks and laces just sent in to me—Heigh-ho!

  • He rode to prove his prowess / in many a land around: Heigh-ho!

British Dictionary definitions for heigh-ho

heigh-ho

interjection
  1. a variant spelling of hey-ho
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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

Word Origin and History for heigh-ho

1550s, exclamation to express yawning, sighing, etc.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper