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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

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

From Time Magazine Archive

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

From Time Magazine Archive

Her first impulse was to run faster and yoo-hoo, but she thought better of it and by biting her lips and digging her fingernails, was able to slow down to a casual walk.

From The Best Short Stories of 1921 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story by O'Brien, Edward J. (Edward Joseph Harrington)

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.