shoo
verbinterjectionpronouncommon in dialogue
- //ʃuː//
To induce someone or something to leave.
verb
- 1
informalTo induce someone or something to leave.
Don't just shoo away mosquitoes, kill them!
See if you can shoo off the insurance salesmen.
It was those damned bandages over my eyes, the medley of voices that had shouted back at me down the corridor. But I certainly was getting the willies - and once you get 'em, they grow. Already they were past the stage where you can shoo them off by whistling or singing at yourself.
- 2
informalTo leave under inducement.
You kids had better shoo before your parents get a call.
- 3
informalTo usher someone.
Shoo the visitor in.
Etymology
From Middle English schew, schowe, show, showe, scou (“shoo!”, interjection). Compare Middle High German schū, schuo (“shoo!”, interjection) (modern German scheu! (“shoo!”)), Dutch schuwen (“to shun”), German scheuchen (“to scare, drive away”).
interjection
- 1
informalGo away! Clear off!
Shoo, fly, don't bother me!
pronoun
- 1
Variant of sheAlternative form of she.
Hearken, hearken, shoo’s cursing on em!” muttered Joseph, towards whom I had been steering.
Etymology
From Middle English scho, sheo, scheo, sȝheo, from Old English hēo (“she”). More at she.
Forms
- past tense
- shooed
- past participle
- shooed
- present participle
- shooing
- third person singular
- shoos
shoo · To induce someone or something to leave.
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