shoo

[shoo]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR shoo ON THESAURUS.COM

interjection

(used to scare or drive away a cat, dog, chickens, birds, etc.)

verb (used with object), shooed, shoo·ing.

to drive away by saying or shouting “shoo.”

to request or force (a person) to leave: I'll have to shoo you out of here now.

verb (used without object), shooed, shoo·ing.

to call out “shoo.”

Origin of shoo

1475–85; earlier showe, shough, shooh, ssou (interjection), imitative; compare German schu

Can be confusedshoe shoo

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

Related Words for shoo

scoot, scram, git, shoo, begone, away, depart, leave, off, out, scat, vamoose, hightail, skiddoo, skedaddle

Examples from the Web for shoo

Contemporary Examples of shoo

When the rest of us would stand, we could watch parts of the ceremony until security would try to shoo us back to our seats.
My Night at the Golden Globe Awards
Ramin Setoodeh
January 14, 2013

Historical Examples of shoo

It was a little mean of her, but he looked the other way and said, "Shoo, Teddy."
W. A. G.'s Tale
Margaret Turnbull
All Sim had to do was to make a pass at the Jerries, loop over and shoo them away.
A Yankee Flier Over Berlin
Al Avery
I tried to give him the wink and shoo him off, but it was no go.
Shorty McCabe
Sewell Ford
Acknowledging the presence of the cows only by a friendly "Shoo, there!"
Peak and Prairie
Anna Fuller
And you just shoo me off wherever you please and go on with the good work.
The Straw
Eugene O'Neill

British Dictionary definitions for shoo

shoo

interjection

go away!: used to drive away unwanted or annoying people, animals, etc

verb shoos, shooing or shooed

(tr) to drive away by or as if by crying "shoo."

(intr) to cry "shoo."

Word Origin for shoo

C15: imitative; related to Middle High German schū, French shou, Italian scio

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 shoo

1620s, "to drive away by calling 'shoo,' " from the exclamation (late 15c.), perhaps instinctive, cf. German schu, Italian scioia. Related: Shooed; shooing.