hoot

1 of 3

verb

hooted; hooting; hoots

intransitive verb

1
: to shout or laugh usually derisively
2
: to make the natural throat noise of an owl or a similar cry
3
: to make a loud clamorous mechanical sound

transitive verb

1
: to assail or drive out by hooting
hooted down the speaker
2
: to express or utter with hoots
hooted their disapproval

hoot

2 of 3

noun

1
: a sound of hooting
especially : the cry of an owl
2
: a minimum amount or degree : the least bit
don't give a hoot
3
: something or someone amusing
the play is a real hoot
hooty adjective

hoot

3 of 3

interjection

variants or hoots
chiefly Scotland
used to express impatience, dissatisfaction, or objection

Examples of hoot in a Sentence

Verb We could hear an owl hooting in the woods. I hooted at the car in front of me. The crowd booed and hooted when it was announced that the show was canceled. The crowd hooted its disapproval. The speaker was hooted off the platform by a small group of protesters. Noun The announcement was met with hoots of derision. the courtroom erupted in hoots of laughter upon hearing the witness's sarcastic retort to the lawyer's arrogant remark
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Many people think all owls make a hooting noise, but that is not the case. Megan Marples, CNN, 9 Feb. 2024 Jim O’Brien were hooting and hollering and singing ‘Moon Over Miami’ [site of Super Bowl V]. Mike Klingaman, Baltimore Sun, 27 Jan. 2024 The longtime cohost playfully hit back at a group of guests in the crowd during Monday's Live With Kelly & Mark broadcast, after the attendees hooted and hollered during the pair's opening chat. Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 25 Sep. 2023 He has been heard hooting from rooftops and water towers across the Upper West Side, sometimes calling out into the post-midnight darkness for hours to establish his territory and possibly woo a mate. Ed Shanahan, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2024 An total audience of more than 90,000 will hoot and holler for Garth Brooks as the country music star plays, count ’em, six shows at Sleep Train Arena. Chris MacIas and Tim Swanson, Sacramento Bee, 31 Jan. 2024 So of course all 300 of these middle-aged women are hooting and hollering and carrying on. Christian D'andrea, The Enquirer, 17 Jan. 2024 Noseda maintained a keen sense of order, and the orchestra was impressively crisp and clean — perhaps a little too clean, as any break in the action seemed to invite outbursts of hooting applause. Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 12 Jan. 2024 And Chase’s contemporaries did not hoot: Congress passed legislation in 1870 that set some procedures for Section 3 disqualifications. Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2023
Noun
For every 30-minute skin up the 7,000-foot-high glacier, I was rewarded with a cruise-y, five-minute descent in fresh powder and a chorus of my own hoots and hollers reverberating off the icy peaks. Jen Murphy, Robb Report, 3 Feb. 2024 Warren Sherrill directs his ace ensemble — Emma Messenger, Torsten Hillhouse and Mark Collins — with an eerie mix of hoot and horror as well as a fine appreciation for what remains absurd and theatrical about the set-up of William Goldman’s play, based on Stephen King’s 1987 bestselling novel. Lisa Kennedy, The Denver Post, 1 Feb. 2024 Gay endorsed this as free speech, a hoot since Harvard, during her reign as the dean, seemed to enjoy crushing free speech. Brian T. Allen, National Review, 11 Jan. 2024 His anecdotes about Bubbles, Jackson’s famous chimp, his bird, and his snake are a hoot. Lily Moayeri, SPIN, 29 Jan. 2024 The red car was a hoot; the blue car was a total handful at anything like full power. Michael Teo Van Runkle, Ars Technica, 17 Nov. 2023 My brother seemed to think the whole thing was a hoot. Junot Díaz, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2023 The economics profession values economists for being able to translate observable reality into elegant mathematical equations, which the rest of us don’t care two hoots about. Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 16 Oct. 2023 The solution laid in the deep hoots of this common North American bird. Rachel Feltman, Popular Science, 16 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hoot.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English houten, of imitative origin

Interjection

origin unknown

First Known Use

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Interjection

1540, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hoot was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near hoot

Cite this Entry

“Hoot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hoot. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

hoot

1 of 2 verb
1
: to utter a loud shout usually of scorn
2
: to make the characteristic call of an owl or a similar sound
3
: to drive out by hooting
hooter noun

hoot

2 of 2 noun
1
: a sound of hooting
especially : the call of an owl
2
: a very small amount
don't care a hoot
3
: an amusing person or thing

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