zoo

1 of 2

noun

plural zoos
1
: a facility with usually indoor and outdoor settings where living, typically wild animals are kept especially for public exhibition

called also zoological garden, zoological park

2
: a place, situation, or group marked by crowding, confusion, or unrestrained behavior
The convention was a zoo.

zoo-

2 of 2

combining form

variants or before a vowel zo-
1
: animal : animal kingdom or kind
zooid
zoology
2
: motile
zoospore

Examples of zoo in a Sentence

Noun The sixth grade classroom was a zoo after recess. The supermarket was a real zoo on the night before the storm.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
Unlike a zoo, the park focuses on creating close, respectful encounters. Jim Dobson, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025 The department said that the owner of the alligator was transporting it from New York to North Carolina for a zoo. James Powel, USA Today, 18 June 2025 The species was once plentiful in Brazil’s savanna, or Cerrado, until farming and timber plantations took over the landscape, according to the zoo. Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 18 June 2025 More than a dozen skunk kits were born in a spring baby boom at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs last month, zoo officials announced Sunday on social media. Lauren Penington, Denver Post, 4 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for zoo

Word History

Etymology

Noun

short for zoological garden

Combining form

borrowed from Greek zōo-, zōio-, combining form from zôion "animal," derivative from the base of zṓō, zṓein (Homeric), zô, zên (Attic) "to be alive, live," going back to Indo-European *gwi̯éh3-(u)- "live" (whence also Tocharian B śāyau "[I] live"), full grade of a stem attested elsewhere with zero grade as *gwih3-u-, whence Latin vīvō, vīvere "to live," Old Church Slavic živǫ, žiti, Old Prussian giwa "(s/he) lives," Latvian dzīvu "(I) live," Sanskrit jīvati "(s/he) lives," Avestan juuaiti

Note: See also bio-, quick entry 1.

First Known Use

Noun

1835, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of zoo was in 1835

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Cite this Entry

“Zoo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zoo. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.

Kids Definition

zoo

noun
plural zoos
: a garden or park where living usually wild animals are kept for showing to the public

More from Merriam-Webster on zoo

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