ho

¹

[hoh]

interjection

1. (used as a call to attract attention, sometimes specially used after a word denoting a destination).

   Westward ho! Land ho!

2. (used as an exclamation of surprise or delight.)

ho

²

[hoh]

interjection

1. (used as a command to a horse to stop.)

ho

³

Or hoe

[hoh]

noun

Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.

plural

hos, hoes, ho's. 

1. a sexually promiscuous woman.

2. a prostitute; whore.

3. a woman.

Ho

⁴

Symbol, Chemistry.

1. holmium.

HO

⁵

[hoh]

noun

1. (in police use) habitual offender.

ho.

⁶

abbreviation

1. house.

H.O.

⁷

abbreviation

1. Head Office; Home Office.

HO

¹

abbreviation

1. head office

2. government Home Office

ho

²

/ həʊ /

interjection

1. Also: ho-ho. an imitation or representation of the sound of a deep laugh

2. an exclamation used to attract attention, announce a destination, etc

   what ho!

   land ho!

   westward ho!

Ho

³

symbol

1. holmium

ho

⁴

/ həʊ /

noun

1. slang:Black,  a derogatory term for a woman

ho.

⁵

abbreviation

1. house

Word History and Origins

Origin of ho¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English; a natural exclamation

Origin of ho²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English ho, who, from Old French ho, and Old Norse hō; whoa

Origin of ho³

First recorded in 1965–70; dialectal or African American Vernacular English pronunciation of whore

Word History and Origins

Origin of ho¹

C13: of imitative origin; compare Old Norse hó, Old French ho! halt!

Origin of ho²

C20: from Black or Southern US pronunciation of _whore

Example Sentences

“We view Akamai as a beneficiary of the growing importance of edge compute, particularly as AI-inference-based workloads continue to expand,” William Blair analyst Jonathan Ho wrote earlier this month, referring to how more AI tasks are being handled on user devices versus in the cloud.

Read more on MarketWatch

Firefighter Ho Wai-ho, 37, has been identified as among those killed.

Read more on BBC

Kyle Ho, 32, moved into the complex with his retired parents three years ago.

Read more on BBC

That could be some relief for Mr Ho.

Read more on BBC

When Ho Wai-ho and his fellow firefighters arrived at the scene about 10 minutes later, the blaze was already racing up the green netting and bamboo scaffolding covering the 31-story high rise.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

When To Use

What does ho mean?

Not to be confused with hoe (the gardening tool), a ho is an offensive term for a sex worker or a promiscuous woman. Some people use the term to insult women in general while some women have reclaimed the term.What are other forms of ho?hoe