hoot1
[hoot]
- to cry out or shout, especially in disapproval or derision.
- to utter the cry characteristic of an owl.
- to utter a similar sound.
- Chiefly British. to blow a horn or whistle; toot.
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- to assail with shouts of disapproval or derision: The fans hooted the umpire.
- to drive out, off, or away by hooting.
- to express in hoots: The crowd hooted its disagreement with the speaker.
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- the cry of an owl.
- any similar sound, as an inarticulate shout.
- a cry or shout, especially of disapproval or derision.
- British. a horn, siren, or whistle, especially a factory whistle.
- Informal. the least bit of concern, interest, or thought; trifle: His religion doesn't matter a hoot to me.
- Slang. an extremely funny person, situation, or event: Your cousin is such a hoot!
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- not give/care a hoot, Informal. to not care at all: I don't give a hoot.Also not give/care two hoots.
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Origin of hoot1
1150–1200; Middle English hoten, huten, houten (verb); perhaps imitative
Synonyms
See more synonyms for hoot on Thesaurus.com1, 5. jeer, boo, hiss. 5. razz.
hoot2
or hoots
[hoot]
- (used as an expression of impatience, dissatisfaction, objection, or dislike.)
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Origin of hoot2
1675–85; compare Swedish hut, Welsh hwt, Irish ut begone!
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for hoot
Contemporary Examples
Hooters is cleverly asking me to “Give a Hoot” about breast cancer.
I thought you were a hoot on Community as the lawyer for the estate of Pierce.
Kentucky’s Finest Antihero: Walton Goggins on Justified’s Chameleon VillainAllen Barra
February 11, 2014
The Explosion at the Wig Factory was about as big of a hoot as you can comfortably call a tragedy like an explosion.
The Palestinian Authority didn't give a hoot what the reasons were.
“ John F. Kennedy Jr. was a hoot to do at his first convention,” Sheehan says.
Historical Examples
Anyway, we can tell in a minute or two, 'cause them owls are sure to hoot again.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
But I thought that there was a hoot of laughter in the high wail of the wind.
Alarms and DiscursionsG. K. Chesterton
It was between nine and ten o'clock that Jack heard the hoot of an owl.
Oh, You Tex!William Macleod Raine
Take away the castles, and not even a German would give a hoot for it.
A Book of BurlesquesH. L. Mencken
He grinned to himself, and just then the hoot of an owl sounded.
The Boy Scouts on the TrailGeorge Durston
hoot1
- the mournful wavering cry of some owls
- a similar sound, such as that of a train whistle
- a jeer of derision
- informal an amusing person or thingthe weekend was a hoot
- not give a hoot not to care at all
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- (often foll by at) to jeer or yell (something) contemptuously (at someone)
- (tr) to drive (political speakers, actors on stage, etc) off or away by hooting
- (intr) to make a hoot
- (intr) British to blow a horn
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Word Origin
C13 hoten, of imitative origin
hoot2
hoots (huːts)
- an exclamation of impatience or dissatisfaction: a supposed Scotticism
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Word Origin
C17: of unknown origin
hoot3
- Australian and NZ a slang word for money
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Word Origin
from Māori utu price
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 hoot
v.
"to call or shout in disapproval or scorn," c.1600, probably related to or from huten, "to shout, call out" (c.1200), probably ultimately imitative. First used of bird cries, especially that of the owl, mid-15c. Related: Hooted; hooting. As a noun from mid-15c. Meaning "a laugh, something funny" is first recorded 1942. Slang sense of "smallest amount or particle" (The hoot you don't give when you don't care) is from 1891.
"A dod blasted ole fool!" answered the captain, who, till now, had been merely an amused on-looker. "Ye know all this rumpus wont do nobuddy a hoot o' good--not a hoot." ["Alonge Traverse Shores," Traverse City, Michigan, 1891]
Hooter in the same sense is from 1839.
HOOTER. Probably a corruption of iota. Common in New York in such phrases as "I don't care a hooter for him." "This note ain't worth a hooter." [John Russell Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1877]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with hoot
hoot
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.