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Booby

 - 6 dictionary results

boo⋅by

1  [boo-bee]
Use Booby in a Sentence
–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

Related forms:
boo⋅by⋅ish, adjective

boob⋅y

2  [boo-bee]
–noun, plural boob⋅ies. Slang: Sometimes Vulgar.
a female breast.
Origin:
1930–35, Americanism; prob. var. of earlier bubby
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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boo·by 1   (bōō'bē)   
n.   pl. boo·bies

  1. A person regarded as stupid.

  2. Any of several tropical sea birds of the genus Sula, resembling and related to the gannets.


[Probably Spanish bobo, from Latin balbus, stammering.]
boo·by 2   (bōō'bē)   
n.   pl. boo·bies Vulgar Slang
A woman's breast.

[Perhaps alteration of obsolete English bubby.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
boob [bub]

  1. n.
    a stupid person; a rural oaf. : Why did I marry a boob like you?
  2. n.
    and booby. [ˈbubi]a breast. (Usually plural. Usually objectionable.) : With boobs like that, she can go anywhere she likes.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

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
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