hooter

[hoo-ter]

noun

a person or thing that hoots.

British. a car horn.

British Slang. the nose.

Origin of hooter

First recorded in 1665–75; hoot¹ + -er¹

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

Examples from the Web for hooters

Contemporary Examples of hooters

Hooters is cleverly asking me to “Give a Hoot” about breast cancer.
The Misogynistic Companies Jumping On The Breast Cancer Bandwagon
Emily Shire
October 16, 2014
Sure, Hooters may have a vested financial interests in breasts—or rather, a very specific type of breast.
The Misogynistic Companies Jumping On The Breast Cancer Bandwagon
Emily Shire
October 16, 2014
As the Hooters press kit shows, an appreciation for breasts does not automatically translate to an appreciation of women.
The Misogynistic Companies Jumping On The Breast Cancer Bandwagon
Emily Shire
October 16, 2014
After 15 minutes, they packed up their protest and headed to Hooters.
The Scare Campaign of Open Carry Activists
Brandy Zadrozny
November 18, 2013
Kat Cole, the chief executive officer of Cinnabon, started her career in high school as a part-time waitress at Hooters.
Companies Must Get Smarter About Hiring and Nurturing Part-Time Workers
Adam Lewis
September 26, 2013

Historical Examples of hooters

Far away over the snow sounded the hooters of the ironworks.
Sons and Lovers
David Herbert Lawrence
The sound, the weirdness of the hooters in itself, would keep back a braver foe.
The Siege of Kimberley
T. Phelan
Wednesday was quiet; so also was Thursday, our peace being marred by neither shells nor hooters.
The Siege of Kimberley
T. Phelan
The hooters had been relegated to oblivion and already, swan-like, sung their sad, sweet song.
The Siege of Kimberley
T. Phelan
I wonder if there were hooters when Tennyson wrote those popular lines about ringing in the New Year.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, December 29, 1920
Various

British Dictionary definitions for hooters

hooter

noun mainly British

a person or thing that hoots, esp a car horn

slang a nose

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 hooters

hooter

by 1823, "anything that hoots," especially an owl, agent noun from hoot (v.). Slang meaning "nose" is from 1958. Meaning "a woman's breast" (usually in plural hooters) attested by 1972. The Hooters restaurant chain began 1983 in Clearwater, Florida, U.S.