ENGLISH
REFERENCE

whoop

n. countable
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈhwup// whoop Archaic Informal

n. a loud cry of joy or excitement. You might hear this when someone wins a game or hears great news.

n. a loud, enthusiastic cry or shout expressing excitement, joy, or triumph. Often used to describe a sudden, sharp vocalisation.


SIMPLE

A loud whoop went up from the crowd when the goal was scored.

CONTEXTUAL

The children let out a collective whoop of delight when they saw the ice cream truck turn the corner.

COMPLEX

The silence of the forest was suddenly broken by a triumphant whoop from the hikers who had finally reached the summit after hours of climbing.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

From Middle English whopen, whowpen, howpen, houpen (“to whoop, cry out”), partially from Old French houper, hopper, houpper (“to shout”), from Proto-West Germanic hwōpan, from Proto-Germanic hwōpaną (“to boast, threaten”) (compare Gothic 𐍈𐍉𐍀𐌰𐌽 (ƕōpan, “to boast”), Old English hwōpan (“to threaten”)); and partially from Middle English wop (“weeping, lamentation”), from Old English wōp (“cry, outcry, shrieking, weeping, lamentation”), from Proto-West Germanic wōp, from Proto-Germanic wōpaz (“shout, cry, wail”) (compare Old Norse ópa (“to cry, scream, shout”), Gothic 𐍅𐍉𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wōpjan, “to cry out”)).

Etymology 2

From a traditional African American and Southern US pronunciation of whip.

Usage

Often paired with the preposition 'of' to describe the emotion, such as a 'whoop of joy' or 'whoop of delight'.

Idioms3 entries

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