whooper

American  

[hoo-per, hwoo-, woo-] / ˈhu pər, ˈʰwu-, ˈwu- /

noun

1. a person or thing that whoops.

2. whooper swan.

3. Informal. whooping crane.

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whooper British  

/ ˈwuːpə /

noun

1. a large white Old World swan, Cygnus cygnus, having a black bill with a yellow base and a noisy whooping cry

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Etymology

Origin of whooper

First recorded in 1650–60; whoop + -er ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

whooper

Numbers of whooper swans are predicted to double in the UK by 2030, thanks to efforts to protect the wetlands where they spend the winter.

From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2023

In the harvested corn fields, big flocks of muddy whooper swans were eating leftovers, but apart from them, not a bird sang.

From New York Times ● Sep. 11, 2022

The 1,400-acre reserve was established by Sir Peter Scott to provide a winter home for barnacle geese, but also attracts many other types of wildlife, including badgers, whooper swans and natterjack toads.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 30, 2014

Although great bird artist John James Audubon believed incorrectly that whooping cranes and sandhill cranes were the same species, with the sandhill's gray-brown a juvenile coloring, his portrait of the whooper was dead-on.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2010

"Well, there ain't much use 'whooping up the boys' when only the whooper gets wild."

From A Protegee of Jack Hamlin's and Other Stories by Bret Harte

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