cooee

[ koo-ee ]

noun
  1. a prolonged, shrill, clear call or cry used as a signal by Aboriginal inhabitants of Australia and adopted by the settlers in the country.

verb (used without object),coo·eed, coo·ee·ing.
  1. to utter the call “cooee.”

Origin of cooee

1
First recorded in 1780–90, cooee is from the Dharuk word gu-wī

Words Nearby cooee

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How to use cooee in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cooee

cooee

cooey

/ (ˈkuːiː) /


interjection
  1. a call used to attract attention, esp (originally) a long loud high-pitched call on two notes used in the Australian bush

verbcooees, cooeeing, cooeed, cooeys, cooeying or cooeyed
  1. (intr) to utter this call

noun
  1. Australian and NZ informal calling distance (esp in the phrase within (a) cooee (of))

Origin of cooee

1
C19: from a native Australian language

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