ENGLISH
REFERENCE

shoo

v.
B1 Intermediate US //ˈʃu// UK //ʃˈuː// shoo Archaic Informal

v. to tell someone or something to go away. You use this when you want to send a person or an animal to another place.

v. to drive away or send someone or something away.


SIMPLE

Shoo the cat away from the table.

CONTEXTUAL

The children were told to shoo the birds from the garden before they could eat their lunch.

COMPLEX

The gardener had to shoo several curious squirrels away from the newly planted seedlings to prevent them from damaging the roots.

Etymology 1

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”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English scho, sheo, scheo, sȝheo, from Old English hēo (“she”). More at she.

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