boo

boo (buː)

—*interj*
1.	an exclamation uttered to startle or surprise someone, esp a child
2.	a shout uttered to express disgust, dissatisfaction, or contempt, esp at a theatrical production, political meeting, etc
3.	would not say boo to a goose is extremely timid or diffident

—vb , boos, booing, booed
4.	to shout "boo" at (someone or something), esp as an expression of disgust, dissatisfaction, or disapproval: to boo the actors

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

boo

"to startle," early 15c., boh, "A combination of consonant and vowel especially fitted to produce a loud and startling sound" [OED, which compares L. boare, Gk. boaein "to cry aloud, roar, shout."]; as an expression of disapproval, 1801 (n.), 1816 (v.); hence, the verb meaning "shower someone with boos"

(1893). To say boo "open one's mouth, speak," originally was to say boo to a goose.

American Heritage

Abbreviations & Acronyms

BOO
Bootes (constellation)

Example sentences

Oh, look, two years in a row with trillion dollar deficits and boo to show for it.

They can do whatever they please, and no other nation can say boo because they hold such a large percentage of the world's oil.

We cheer on the good guy and boo when the bad guy gets a leg up.

Boo to the lazy editor who came up with the lame label.

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Slang

boo-bird boo-boo

boo-boo

Matching Quote

"The way in which the photograph records experience is also different from the way of language. Language makes sense only when it is presented as a sequence of propositions. Meaning is distorted when a word or sentence is, as we say, taken out of context; when a reader or listener is deprived of what was said before, and after. But there is no such thing as a photograph taken out of context, for a photograph does not require one. In fact, the point of photography is to isolate images from context, so as to make them visible in a different way."

-Neil Postman