Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for zoo on Thesaurus.com Also called zoological garden . a parklike area in which live animals are kept in cages or large enclosures for public exhibition. Informal a place, activity, or group marked by chaos or unrestrained behavior. Show More
Origin of zoo First recorded in 1840–50; first two syllables of zoological garden taken as one syllable
a combining form meaning “living being,” “animal,” used in the formation of compound words: zoometry; zooplankton. Show More
Also
especially before a vowel ,
zo- .
Origin of zoo- combining form representing Greek zôion animal
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for zoo Contemporary Examples of zoo Triplet panda cubs born this past July were reunited with their mother, Juxiao, in a Chinese zoo this week.
She worked with wildlife as a volunteer in Peru and the Galapagos; she worked with elephants in Thailand, at a zoo in Australia.
The zoo is blessed with multiple wallabies and was happy to oblige.
In Atlanta, though, you can spend the night in a zoo with real live animals.
Even before it was unveiled, critics were attacking the 21st-century version of the offensive original “zoo .”
Historical Examples of zoo I knew there was a big menagerie there, Cross's Zoo , and that I should find some lions for sale.
The zoo attendants might talk and entirely spoil their scheme.
"I've been to the zoo lots of times," she said to the girl next to her.
They say there is a country where the elephants are wild,And never even heard of our Zoo .
Has the reader ever visited that famous resort of youth, the Zoo ?
British Dictionary definitions for zoo a place where live animals are kept, studied, bred, and exhibited to the public Formal term: zoological garden Show More
Word Origin for zoo C19: shortened from zoological gardens (originally applied to those in London)
indicating animals zooplankton Show More
Word Origin for zoo- from Greek zōion animal
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 zoo n. c.1847, short for Zoological Gardens of the London Zoological Society, established 1828 in Regent's Park to house the society's collection of wild animals. From comb. form of Greek zoion "an animal," literally "a living being," from PIE root *gwei- "to live, life" (cf. Greek bios "life," Old English cwicu "living;" see bio- ). Slang meaning "crowded and chaotic place" first recorded 1935.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Animal; animal kingdom: zoonosis. Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Idioms and Phrases with zoo The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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