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shoo

[shoo]
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interjection
  1. (used to scare or drive away a cat, dog, chickens, birds, etc.)
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verb (used with object), shooed, shoo·ing.
  1. to drive away by saying or shouting “shoo.”
  2. to request or force (a person) to leave: I'll have to shoo you out of here now.
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verb (used without object), shooed, shoo·ing.
  1. to call out “shoo.”
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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. 2018

Examples from the Web for shoo

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • 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.

  • 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
  1. go away!: used to drive away unwanted or annoying people, animals, etc
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verb shoos, shooing or shooed
  1. (tr) to drive away by or as if by crying "shoo."
  2. (intr) to cry "shoo."
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Word Origin

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

v.

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

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper