Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • interjection Used to express surprise or joy, to attract attention to something sighted, or to urge onward.
  • noun A prostitute.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A command to keep silence, or to cease from anything.
  • noun Cessation; end; pause; intermission.
  • To cry out; call out; hail.
  • To stop; cease.
  • The chemical symbol of holmium.
  • A Middle English form of who.
  • See he.
  • A cry or call uttered to arrest attention; also, an exclamation of satisfaction or exultation.
  • In particular, a cry used to stop one who is passing, or to command a stop in some action; now, especially (also written whoa), a cry used to stop a horse or other draft-animal; used imperatively, stop! hold!

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A stop; a halt; a moderation of pace.
  • proper noun (Chem.) The chemical symbol for Holmium.
  • interjection Halloo! attend! -- a call to excite attention, or to give notice of approach.
  • interjection Stop! stand still! hold! -- a word now used by teamsters, but formerly to order the cessation of anything.
  • pronoun obsolete Who.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • interjection nautical Used to attract attention to something sighted, usually by lookouts.
  • interjection halloo; hey; a call to excite attention, or to give notice of approach
  • noun slang, pejorative A whore; a sexually loose woman; in general use as a highly offensive name-calling word for a woman with connotations of loose sexuality.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group; occurs together with yttrium; forms highly magnetic compounds

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[African American Vernacular English, alteration of whore.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English ho, hoo (interjection), probably from Old Norse hó! (interjection, also, a shepherd's call). Compare German ho, Old French ho ! ("hold!, halt!").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

An eye dialect corruption of whore, from non-rhotic pronunciations considered typical of African American Vernacular English. Compare mo' (more) and fo' (for, four).

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Examples

  • : 26 AM ho ho ho~~~ tiz a season to be jolly ho's coming back today!!

    pangsuan Diary Entry pangsuan 2006

  • Robin Good-fellow would many times walk in the night with a broom on his shoulder, and cry "chimney sweep," but when any one did call him, then would he run away laughing _ho, ho, hoh!

    The Sources and Analogues of 'A Midsummer-night's Dream' Compiled by Frank Sidgwick

  • No sooner was he in the midst of it, but Robin Good-fellow left him with nothing but a pack-saddle betwixt his legs, and in the shape of a fish swam to the shore, and ran away laughing, _ho, ho, hoh!

    The Sources and Analogues of 'A Midsummer-night's Dream' Compiled by Frank Sidgwick

  • Why do not their windows rattle with a “Yo, ho, ho”?

    The Fish Reporter 1921

  • The soundings of the seven trumpets are significant of progressive steps in the general judgment; the days pertaining to the voice of the seventh angel are those immediately preceding the actual sounding of his trumpet, which announces the {95} completion (as indicated by the number seven) of the mystery of God's creation in time, and marks the end of the age (_ho aiôn ho mellôn_) following upon the conclusion of the present age.

    An Essay on the Scriptural Doctrine of Immortality James Challis 1842

  • One or two of them sing, keeping time with their hands, which they strike on their knees: sometimes they stop, exclaiming, _Ho, ho, ho_, when they begin dancing again, puffing like a man out of breath.

    Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 01 Samuel de Champlain 1601

  • Arriving in front of the great Sagamore, he threw his dog violently to the ground, when all with one voice exclaimed, _Ho, ho, ho_, after which he went back to his place.

    Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 01 Samuel de Champlain 1601

  • And, beginning with the Book of Revelation, at the title ho hon kai ho en kai ho erchomenos, "who is, and was, and is to come," he goes upward through the sacred volume, quoting the passages which bear upon the question, till he comes to the important passage in Exodus in.

    Commentary on Genesis - Volume 1 1509-1564 1996

  • There are news going around that this season Santas might be banned to use their traditional greeting of "ho, ho, ho" and thus have to use "ha, ha, ha" instead because the term "ho" is too close to the American slang for prostitute.

    Political Correctness Taken Too Far 2007

  • There are news going around that this season Santas might be banned to use their traditional greeting of "ho, ho, ho" and thus have to use "ha, ha, ha" instead because the term "ho" is too close to the American slang for prostitute.

    Archive 2007-11-01 2007

Comments

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  • Ho. Chemical element symbol for Holmium.

    December 16, 2007

  • The way Santa Claus is reputed to laugh; see also ha, hee and heh.

    May 22, 2008