Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- interj. Used to catch someone's attention.
- interj. Used to urge on hounds in a hunt.
- n. A shout or call of "halloo.”
- v. To shout "halloo.”
- v. To urge on or pursue by calling "halloo” or shouting.
- v. To call out to.
- v. To shout or yell (something).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- An exclamation used to call the attention of a person at a distance, or in hunting to incite the dogs.
- To cry out; call with a loud voice; shout; cry, as after dogs.
- To call or shout to; incite or chase with shouts and cries of “Halloo!”
- To cry aloud; utter with shouts.
- n. A call, cry, or shout uttered to attract attention, or as a signal, as in hunting to urge on the dogs.
Wiktionary
- interj. Used to greet someone, or to catch their attention
- interj. Used in hunting to urge on the pursuers
- n. A shout of halloo
- v. To shout halloo
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A loud exclamation; a call to invite attention or to incite a person or an animal; a shout.
- v. To cry out; to exclaim with a loud voice; to call to a person, as by the word
halloo . - v. To encourage with shouts.
- v. To chase with shouts or outcries.
- v. To call or shout to; to hail.
- interj. An exclamation to call attention or to encourage one. Now mostly replaced by hello.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a shout to attract attention
- v. urge on with shouts
- v. shout `halloo', as when greeting someone or attracting attention
Etymologies
- Alteration of obsolete holla, stop!; see hello. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Then I hallooed, first making sure that there was no one lurking near to overhear, and waved my handkerchief, keeping my horse standing to his fetlocks in the current, until over the water came an answering halloo from the Golden Horn, and I could plainly see Captain Calvin Tabor on the quarter-deck.”
The Heart's Highway: A Romance of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century
“Sophie acknowledged the fact with a grimace as, with a wave and a whooping "halloo," Clarissa shot past.”
“One might "halloo" to an old acquaintance forty rods distant, down a country lane; but on Broadway he bows only to the ones whom he meets point blank.”
“At the same moment there was a "halloo" outside, and a woman burst open the door, turning quickly to shut out behind her the onrush of the shower and the biting cold of the wind.”
Golden Stories A Selection of the Best Fiction by the Foremost Writers
“The real pioneer never emigrates gregariously; he does not wish to be within "halloo" of his nearest neighbor; he is no city-builder; and, if he does project a town, he christens it by some such name as Boonville or Clarksville, in memory of a noted pioneer: or Jacksonville or”
Western Characters or Types of Border Life in the Western States
“Now jump!" cried Niels; and with one joyous "halloo" the children were on the broad, springy plank, enjoying to the utmost this novel pleasure.”
“A faint "halloo" would answer when she heard him, and then he would find her under a tree or bush, with her unfortunate head between her hands, a picture of misery.”
“He raised his voice in a long "halloo" and rapped three times on the table.”
Two Little Savages Being the adventures of two boys who lived as Indians and what they learned
“It was distant, - a singsong note, resembling the woodland "halloo" we often hear.”
“A faint "halloo" came from far up the mountain-side, and in the distance men's voices rang across the cañon.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘halloo’.
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Steampunk
Words used quite often in steampunk
ansible, airship, chymical, valve, clockwork, dirigible, thaumaturgy, copper, bronze, difference engine, gear, rivets and 516 more...
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Hunting cries
tantara, yoicks, tantivy, tallyho, chivvy, hoics, tally-ho, chivy, chevy, soho, hue, halloo and 15 more...
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Clarissa, Or, The History of a Young ...
These words are from Samuel Richardson's novel Clarissa, Or, The History of a Young Lady, 1747-48
adumbrate, virago, varlet, rencounter, akimbo, palliate, amanuensis, amok, equipage, cully, se'ennight, resentments and 560 more...
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play words
words for a play
pert, vicissitude, melancholy, vexation, gaud, attestation, renunciation, wax, wrought, sunder, antipodes, reckoning and 236 more...
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Words of Whimsy & Grace
abecedary, addendum, ampersand, anachronism, avuncular, balderdash, barnacle, befuddle, behemoth, bejeebers, blabbermouth, blatherskite and 465 more...
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bloodworm's list
These are words that I enjoy because they are unique, rare, long, or just cool.
circumlocution, hysteresis, schadenfreude, quixotic, loquacious, ennui, sesquipedalian, defenestrate, obfuscate, syzygy, ubiquitous, superfluous and 231 more...
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Scenariot
Rebellious destruction, police and protestors, or just angry mobs.
bedlam, chaos, havoc, destruction, cataclysm, devastation, mayhem, plunder, ravage, wreckage, destroy, blitzkrieg and 112 more...
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18th century british
from Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer, Christopher Smart's Jubilate Agno, Richard Brinsley Sheridan's School for Scandal ...
intimacy, piety, partiality, sentimental, plasters, mawkish, drab, spurious, sententious, bitters, folly, virtue and 132 more...
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List
Witty, Murmur, Schism, Smolder, ingle nook, revenant, sea-gate, swell, knot, gunwale, oarlock, poppet and 65 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for halloo.
brtom And truly so am I; for he sometimes whoops like a speaking trumpet—(TONY hallooing behind the scenes)—O, there he goes—a very consumptive figure, truly.
Goldsmith, She Stoops, I Jan 8, 2007