Nearby Entries


Booby - 7 dictionary results
boo⋅by
1 [boo-bee]
–noun, plural -bies.
| 1. | a stupid person; dunce. |
| 2. | a gannet of the genus Sula, having a bright bill, bright feet, or both: some are endangered. |
Origin:
1590–1600; earlier pooby, appar. b. poop to befool (now obs.) and baby; (def. 2) perh. by association with Sp bobo < L balbus stuttering
1590–1600; earlier pooby, appar. b. poop to befool (now obs.) and baby; (def. 2) perh. by association with Sp bobo < L balbus stuttering

Related forms:
boo⋅by⋅ish, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To Booby
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Booby
Boo"by\ (b[=oo]"b[y^]), n.; pl. Boobies (-b[i^]z). [Sp. bobo dunce, idiot; cf. L. balbus stammering, E. barbarous.]1. A dunce; a stupid fellow. 2. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A swimming bird (Sula fiber or S. sula) related to the common gannet, and found in the West Indies, nesting on the bare rocks. It is so called on account of its apparent stupidity. The name is also sometimes applied to other species of gannets; as, S. piscator, the red-footed booby. (b) A species of penguin of the antarctic seas. Booby hatch (Naut.), a kind of wooden hood over a hatch, readily removable. Booby hut, a carriage body put upon sleigh runners. [Local, U. S.] --Bartlett. Booby hutch, a clumsy covered carriage or seat, used in the eastern part of England. --Forby. Booby trap, a schoolboy's practical joke, as a shower bath when a door is opened.Booby
Boo"by\ (b[=oo]"b[y^]), a. Having the characteristics of a booby; stupid.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : Booby
Spanish:
bobo,
German:
der Tölpel,
Japanese:
まぬけ
booby
1599, from Sp. bobo "stupid person, slow bird," probably from L. balbus "stammering" (like barbarian, from an imitative root, cf. Czech blblati "to stammer," Skt. balbala-karoti "he stammers"). Booby prize is 1889, an object of little value given to the loser of a game; booby-trap is 1850, originally a schoolboy prank; the more lethal sense developed during World War I.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.