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Synonyms

yoo-hoo

American  
[yoo-hoo] / ˈyuˌhu /

interjection

  1. (used as an exclamation to get someone's attention, in calling to another person, or the like.)

verb (used without object)

  1. to get or attempt to get someone's attention by or as if by calling “yoo-hoo”.

    yoo-hooing across the back fence.
yoo-hoo British  
/ ˈjuːˌhuː /

interjection

  1. a call to attract a person's attention

"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

Etymology

Origin of yoo-hoo

First recorded in 1920–25 but probably earlier, imitative of the sound

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.

If that isn’t a yoo-hoo moment for his better self, then you’ll need to look at the broader history and implications here.

From Washington Post • Feb. 1, 2016

Within yoo-hoo distance floated the Coast Guard, sternly refusing them food, blankets, sympathy.

From Time Magazine Archive

They saw nothing wrong with yoo-hooing, and proceeded to tell the Army so, with many a yoo-hoo.

From Time Magazine Archive

I just walked out to the gate, and says I to myself, I'll yoo-hoo so that Mr. Gardner can hear over there and come on down.

From The Sagebrusher A Story of the West by Hough, Emerson

I'll go as far as the fence and yoo-hoo at him.

From The Sagebrusher A Story of the West by Hough, Emerson

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.