shoo
Americaninterjection
verb (used with object)
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to drive away by saying or shouting “shoo.”
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to request or force (a person) to leave.
I'll have to shoo you out of here now.
verb (used without object)
interjection
verb
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(tr) to drive away by or as if by crying "shoo."
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(intr) to cry "shoo."
Etymology
Origin of shoo
1475–85; earlier showe, shough, shooh, ssou (interjection), imitative; compare German schu
Vocabulary lists containing shoo
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Harbor staff try to ease them along to the 42 floats built to accommodate the creatures and they use big wooden panels, called herding boards, to gently shoo them away from the boat docks.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026
Most people are inclined to shoo flies away from food, and the thought of maggots in your bins is enough to make anyone's stomach turn.
From BBC • Jun. 26, 2025
If the Dodgers and starter Walker Buehler shoo away the pesky Padres one more time, the game will end with a dogpile on the mound and champagne in the clubhouse.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 26, 2024
Tillman has enough arrogance to shoo the agents away, but Ole Munch and Dot herself are still in the wind, which makes him a target, too.
From New York Times • Nov. 22, 2023
Esteban and Clara had to make their way through the huddle of curious faces and shoo away the dogs that were sniffing among the crowd.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
