Etymology From Middle English ho, hoo (interjection), from Old English hō, probably from Old Norse hó! (interjection, also, a shepherd's call). Compare Dutch ho, German ho, Old French ho! (“hold!, halt!”).
1
Nautical, Transport Used to attract attention to something sighted, usually by lookouts.
Sail ho!
Land ho!
2 more examples
Man ho!
heave-ho
2
halloo; hey; a call to excite attention, or to give notice of approach.
What noise there, ho?c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
Ho! who's within?c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vi]:
4 more examples
O ho, O ho! Would't had been done!1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
Ho! all ye females that would live unshent, / Fly from the reach of Cyned's regiment.1597, [Joseph Hall], “(please specify the page)”, in Virgidemiarum, Sixe Bookes. First Three Bookes, of Tooth-lesse Satyrs. […], London: […] Thomas Creede, for Robert Dexter, →OCLC:
"That was a shot! But the captain will be glad! Ho, ho, here we are!" he cried till it was re-echoed from all the hills around.1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 93:
"So I catch you. You stealer! Ho! Ho!"1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 11:
"I'll hit you again, you thief !” he cried angrily, shaking “Ho-ho-ho!” he croaked.1900, Ching Foo, the Yellow Dwarf; Or the Bradys and the Opium Smokers, page 2:
It was quite an astonishing show. Colonel Paul Malone of the U.S. Army kept thwacking away with all his might and main, shouting "Ho!"1955, John Sack, From Here to Shimbashi - Volume 637, page 172:
2 more examples
Mona: Hee! Ha! Ho! Ha! The brain buffet is closed, buddy! Take that! And this!1999, Mona the Vampire, "Attack of the Living Scarecrow" (season 1, episode 1a)
Ho! Take that vile Foresythe!” He snapped his wrist, clicking the stick against the bowed sides of a barrel.2008, Daniel Hellmund, The Answer for Laria, page 93:
Etymology From Middle English ho, hoo (interjection), from Old English hō, probably from Old Norse hó! (interjection, also, a shepherd's call). Compare Dutch ho, German ho, Old French ho! (“hold!, halt!”).
1
A stop; a halt; a moderation of pace.
O I, a plague on ’em, there’s no ho with ’em, they’re madder then^([sic – meaning than]) March hares.1604 (date written), Tho[mas] Dekker, [Thomas Middleton], The Honest Whore. […] (4th quarto), London: […] Nicholas Okes for Robert Basse, […], published 1616, →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, signature I3, verso:
ho
verb
Etymology Pronunciation spelling of whore in non-rhotic accents with the dough-door merger, such as some varieties of African American Vernacular English; compare mo (“more”), fo' (“for; four”). The noun first appears c. 1964, whereas the verb first appears c. 1972.
1
US, Ambitransitive, Slang, Vulgar To act as a ho, to prostitute.
She holds down a decent job during the day, but is secretly hoeing around with at least 5 different trifling men.2003 November 18, Greywolf Johnson, “Do you know any of these? ”, in alt.strange.days (Usenet):
ho
verb
Etymology From Middle English howen, hoȝen, hogien, from Old English hogian, hugian, from Proto-Germanic *hugjaną. Cognate with Middle Scots huik, Old High German hucken, Old Saxon huggjan, Dutch heugen, Old Norse hyggja, Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hugjan).
To ho for anything, to long for any thing. Berks.1787, Francis Grose, “Ho”, in A Provincial Glossary: […]:
(3) To long for anything; to be careful and anxious. West.[1846, James Orchard Halliwell, “HO”, in A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, Obsolete Phrases, Proverbs, and Ancient Customs, from the Fourteenth Century. […], volume I (A–I), London: John Russell Smith, […], →OCLC, page 451, column 2:
3 more examples
But still ’tis happiness to know ¶ That there’s a God above us; ¶ An’ he, by day an’ night do ho ¶ Vor all ov us an’ love us.1869–1870, William Barnes, The Bells of Alderburnham, Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect:
“Oh ’tis true enough, faith. I can’t understand Farmer Boldwood being such a fool at his time of life as to ho and hanker after thik woman in the way ’a do, and she not care a bit about en.”1874, Thomas Hardy, “Concurritur—Horæ Momento”, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 289:
HO.—To long for, to care greatly for.[1888, Barzillai Lowsley, A Glossary of Berkshire Words and Phrases (Publications of the English Dialect Society; 56), London: English Dialect Society, page 91:
Ho
noun
Etymology From Ho 𑣙𑣉𑣉 (hoː, “Human being”).
1
A Central-Eastern Indian Adivasi tribe numbering around 1 million, mainly following the religion of Sarna Dhorom
ho
noun
Etymology Pronunciation spelling of whore in non-rhotic accents with the dough-door merger, such as some varieties of African American Vernacular English; compare mo (“more”), fo' (“for; four”). The noun first appears c. 1964, whereas the verb first appears c. 1972.
1
US, Derogatory, Slang, Vulgar A whore; a sexually promiscuous woman; in general use as a highly offensive term of abuse for a woman with connotations of loose sexuality.
Bros before hoes!
So you want to see the show? You really don't have to be a ho.2001, “Psycho”, in Toxicity, performed by Serj Tankian with System of a Down:
2 more examples
They was saying the jawn freaked out and called the cops cause all her sorority sistahs started ragging on her and calling her a stank ho for fucking half the basketball team.2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 204:
"You looking for one of my ho's?" the diminutive man asked Sigmund. "A hoe?" Sigmund asked, wondering why the little man wished to sell him farming equipment in the city. "You know, a ho. A tute. A honey, A righteous bit of poontang, my brother," he said. "I don't follow," Sigmund said. "Indubitably, I means a ho, a whore. I can tell you is a player. You want a whore?" he asked.2010, Dennis Shields, God Went Fishing, page 69:
Etymology From Middle English howe, houwe, hoȝe, from Old English hogu and hoga, from Proto-Germanic *hugô, *hugiz, *huguz (“mind, thought, understanding”), akin to Old High German hugu, hugi (Middle High German hüge), Old Saxon hugi (Middle Dutch höghe, Dutch heug), Old Norse hugr, Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌲𐍃 (hugs).
Though there bee A thousand cares that heape my hoe.1567, George Turberville, “A. Sani di Cure Aunsweres”, in Heroycall Epistles of Ovid, 155v:
Him that..this gentlewoman is in such a hoe about.1798, Charlotte Turner Smith, The Young Philosopher, I. 195:
2 more examples
But by day to the zun they must rise To their true lives o' tweil an' ov ho.1869-70, William Barnes, “The Widow’s House”, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect:
I doänt see as you've any call to putt yourself in no such terrible gurt hoe over it.1875, William Douglas Parish, A Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect (at cited word):