gung-ho

[ guhng-hoh ]

adjective
  1. wholeheartedly enthusiastic and loyal; eager; zealous: a gung-ho military outfit.

adverb
  1. in a successful manner: The business is going gung-ho.

Origin of gung-ho

1
Introduced as a training slogan in 1942 by U.S. Marine officer Evans F. Carlson (1896–1947), from Chinese gōng hé, the abbreviated name of the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society, taken by a literal translation as “work together”

Words Nearby gung-ho

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How to use gung-ho in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for gung ho

gung ho

/ (ɡʌŋ həʊ) /


adjective
  1. extremely enthusiastic and enterprising, sometimes to excess

  2. extremely keen to participate in military combat

Origin of gung ho

1
C20: pidgin English, from Mandarin Chinese kung work + ho together

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for gung-ho

gung-ho

Extremely enthusiastic or zealous: “He was gung-ho about going on a vacation to the beach.”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with gung-ho

gung-ho

Also, gung-ho. Extremely enthusiastic or dedicated, as in She was gung ho about her new job. This expression was introduced in 1942 as a training slogan for a U.S. Marine battalion, derived from what an American officer thought were Mandarin Chinese words for “work together.” It was actually an abbreviation for the name of Chinese industrial cooperatives.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.