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shoo

verb, intj — 4 senses

shoo

verb

/ʃuː/

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”).

1

Informal To induce someone or something to leave.

  • Don't just shoo away mosquitoes, kill them!
  • See if you can shoo off the insurance salesmen.
1 more example
  • 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.1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 15:
2

Informal To leave under inducement.

  • You kids had better shoo before your parents get a call.
3

Informal, Rare To usher someone.

  • Shoo the visitor in.
Derived terms
shoo away, shooer, shoofly pie, shoo-fly plant, shoo-in, shoo off

shoo

intj

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”).

1

Informal Go away! Clear off!

  • Shoo, fly, don't bother me!

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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