shoo
To induce someone or something to leaveTo induce someone or something to leave.
Recorded UK: Speaker: Vealhurl Recorder: Vealhurl, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
» The old lady shooed us away.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
3 senses(informal, transitive)To induce someone or something to leave.
Don't just shoo away mosquitoes, kill them!
See if you can shoo off the insurance salesmen.
scheuchen, verscheuchen
прогоня́тьprogonjátʹ, прогна́тьprognátʹ, шуга́тьšugátʹ
(informal, intransitive)To leave under inducement.
You kids had better shoo before your parents get a call.
(informal, rare)To usher someone.
Shoo the visitor in.
- drive away by crying ‘shoo!’
Examples
23 sentencesTranslations
7 languagesOrigin
From Middle English schew, schowe, show, showe, scou (“shoo!”, interjection). Compare MiddFrom 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”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
shoos, shooing, shooed, shooedPhrasal verbs
3 phrasal verbsSynonyms
2 synonymsWord family
6 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.