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whoosh

[hwoosh, hwoo sh, woosh, woo sh]
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noun
  1. a loud, rushing noise, as of air or water: a great whoosh as the door opened.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to move swiftly with a gushing or hissing noise: gusts of wind whooshing through the trees.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to move (an object, a person, etc.) with a whooshing motion or sound: The storm whooshed the waves over the road.
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Also woosh.

Origin of whoosh

First recorded in 1840–50; imitative
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for whoosh

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • That was my last thought as the thing let go with a "whoosh."

    Arm of the Law

    Harry Harrison

  • "I whoosh't—I woosh't was so we could hev pie," sighed one such.

    Back Home

    Eugene Wood

  • There was a whoosh of fire and a flare from the launcher's nose.

    The Secret of the Ninth Planet

    Donald Allen Wollheim

  • It folded over with a whoosh, grabbing its middle, as the toy wobbled off in eccentric flight.

    The Enormous Room

    Horace Leonard Gold

  • Bram Forest drove his left fist into the guard's belly and heard the whoosh of air escaping from his lungs.

British Dictionary definitions for whoosh

whoosh

woosh

noun
  1. a hissing or rushing sound
  2. a rush of emotiona whoosh of happiness
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verb
  1. (intr) to make or move with a hissing or rushing sound
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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 whoosh

1856, of imitative origin.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper