ENGLISH
REFERENCE

toot

n. countable
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈtut// UK //tˈuːt// toot Informal Slang

n. a short, sharp sound made by a horn or a whistle. You might hear this when a car driver wants to get someone's attention.

n. a brief, high-pitched sound produced by a horn, whistle, or similar wind instrument. Often used to describe the sound of a vehicle or a toy.


SIMPLE

The driver gave a quick toot on his horn.

CONTEXTUAL

We heard a friendly toot from the tugboat as it passed under the bridge.

COMPLEX

The silence of the morning was broken by the distant toot of a steam train echoing through the valley.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

Probably onomatopoeic in origin. Compare Dutch toeteren (“to blow a horn”), German tuten, Swedish tuta, Danish tude. Noun etymology 1 sense 7 ("Mastodon post") and verb etymology 1 sense 10 ("to post on Mastodon") are influenced by tweet (“Twitter post”).

Etymology 2

Perhaps a contraction of toilet.

Usage

Often used with the preposition 'on' to specify the instrument producing the sound.

Idioms1 entry

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