zoo

1 of 2

noun

ˈzü 

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

Synonyms

Noun

• ado
• alarums and excursions
• ballyhoo
• blather
• bluster
• bobbery
• bother
• bustle
• clatter
• clutter [chiefly dialect]
• coil
• commotion
• corroboree [Australian]
• disturbance
• do [chiefly dialect]
• foofaraw
• fun
• furor
• furore
• fuss
• helter-skelter
• hoo-ha
• hoo-hah
• hoopla
• hubble-bubble
• hubbub
• hullabaloo
• hurly
• hurly-burly
• hurricane
• hurry
• hurry-scurry
• hurry-skurry
• kerfuffle [chiefly British]
• moil
• pandemonium
• pother
• row
• ruckus
• ruction
• rumpus
• shindy
• splore [Scottish]
• squall
• stew
• stir
• storm
• to-do
• tumult
• turmoil
• uproar
• welter
• whirl
• williwaw

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

Noun

Teams took the egg to the zoo’s in-house Paul Harter Veterinary Medical Center, gently placed it atop a foam block and waited. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Apr. 2024

In 2006, developers secured passage of a countywide referendum to build an entertainment center on zoo property as long as the construction didn’t hurt the environment. —Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 16 Apr. 2024

Bundled tickets to all three events are $60 ($45 for zoo members). —Brianna Taylor, Sacramento Bee, 16 Apr. 2024

In New York City, the idea to distribute rat contraceptives got fresh attention in city government Thursday following the death of an escaped zoo owl, known as Flaco, who was found dead with rat poison in his system. —Maysoon Khan, Fortune, 15 Apr. 2024

In South Carolina back in 2017, the zoo was packed with visitors, giving the animals more to mimic. —Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 Apr. 2024

The National Gallery of Art, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the United States Botanic Garden, and the Smithsonian Institution (which includes 17 museums, galleries, and a zoo) all offer complimentary entry. —Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 11 Apr. 2024

Xola and mama Zenzele have been indoors since her Feb. 11 birth, the first live birth of a rhinoceros at the zoo. —The Indianapolis Star, 9 Apr. 2024

Guests are invited to gather at the historic Amphitheatre to witness the darkness of the eclipse and the sounds of the zoo. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. April 8 at the Toledo Zoo, 2 Hippo Way in Toledo, Ohio. —Brendel Hightower, Detroit Free Press, 4 Apr. 2024

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 *g^wi̯éh₃-(u)- "live" (whence also Tocharian B śāyau "[I] live"), full grade of a stem attested elsewhere with zero grade as *g^wih₃-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

Phrases Containing zoo

• petting zoo

Kids Definition

zoo

noun

ˈzü 

plural zoos

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