wah-wah
or wa-wa
adjective
noun
Nearby words
Origin of wah-wah
Examples from the Web for wah-wah
I ceased making the sound "wah-wah" only when I learned to spell the word.
Story of My Life|Helen KellerHe was the most ordinary kind of gray, jungle monkey, not even a wah-wah or spider face.
Tales of the Malayan Coast|Rounsevelle WildmanIt was the death cry of a wah-wah monkey facing the cruel jaws of a crocodile.
Tales of the Malayan Coast|Rounsevelle WildmanI would like to see a wah-wah of Indian thieves over a melon like that!
The Log School-House on the Columbia|Hezekiah Butterworth
British Dictionary definitions for wah-wah
wah-wah
noun
Word Origin for wah-wah
Word Origin and History for wah-wah
wah-wah
1926, in jazz slang, in reference to the effect on brass instruments made by manipulating the mute; of imitative origin. Later also in reference to an electric guitar effect. As an imitation of the sound of a baby crying, it is recorded from 1938. Wah-wah pedal is recorded from 1969. Cf. Chinook jargon wawa "talk, speak, call, ask, sermon, language;" Cree (Algonquian) wehwew "goose," Lenape (Algonquian) wava "snow goose," all probably of imitative origin.