hoo

• IPA^(key): /huː/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː
• Homophone: who

From Middle English hoo, shoo (“she”) from Old English hēo (“she”). More at she.

hoo (third-person singular, feminine, nominative case, accusative and possessive her, possessive hers, reflexive herself)

1. (South Lancashire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire) she
   • 1854, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, North and South, Chapter VIII:

     'Aye, aye,' said the father, impatiently, 'hoo'll come. Hoo's a bit set up now, because hoo thinks I might ha' spoken more civilly; but hoo'll think better on it, and come. I can read her proud bonny face like a book.

2. (West Midlands and South West England) he, also a gender-neutral third person pronoun

• hoo-justice
• hoo'll
• hoose
• hoost
• hoor

From Middle English hoo, ho. More at ho.

hoo

1. (obsolete) hurrah; an exclamation of triumphant joy
   • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     Our enemy is banish'd! he is gone! Hoo! hoo!

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     With, hoo! such bugs and goblins in my life

2. (Geordie) Used to attract the attention of others.

   "Hoo yee!"

• hoo-ee

From Middle English howe, hu (“how”), from Old English hū (“how”). More at how.

hoo (not comparable)

1. (Northumbria, Geordie) how

• Northumberland Words, English Dialect Society, R. Oliver Heslop, 1893–4
• Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977[1]
• Scott Dobson, Dick Irwin “hoo”, in Newcastle 1970s: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎^[2], archived from the original on 2024-09-05.

From Middle English hough, hogh, ho, from Old English hōh. Doublet of hough.

hoo

1. (obsolete outside placenames) A strip of land; a peninsula; a spur or ridge.

• OOH, oho, ooh

hoo

1. porcupine

hoo

1. genitive singular of hoog

• IPA^(key): /ˈhoː/, [ˈho̞ː]
• Rhymes: -oː
• Syllabification^(key): hoo

Possibly from Swedish hå.

hoo (dated)

1. eek (displaying shock and surprise)

From Swedish hå, ultimately from Latin hā with raising of /aː/ to /oː/.

hoo

1. aitch (The name of the Latin-script letter H/h)

• Speakers often use the expression h-kirjain (“letter h”) instead of inflecting this word, especially in the plural.

• h-kirjain

• hoomoilasena

• oho

hoo

1. Alternative form of who (“who”, nominative)

hoo

1. Alternative form of hough (“hough, hock”)

See also foo.

• IPA^(key): /huː/

hoo (not comparable)

1. how
2. why

• “hoo, adv.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.