woof
n. countablen. the short, loud sound a dog makes. You use this word to describe the noise of a bark.
n. the characteristic short, explosive cry of a dog. Often used as an onomatopoeic representation of a bark.
The dog gave a loud woof when the mailman arrived.
Every time someone walks past the garden gate, the golden retriever lets out a friendly woof.
The silence of the rural night was suddenly broken by a deep, resonant woof from the farm's guard dog, signaling an intruder near the barn.
The noun is derived from Middle English wof, oof, owf (“threads in a piece of woven fabric at right angles to the warp, weft, woof; also sometimes the warp; transverse filaments of a spider web”) [and other forms] (the forms beginning with w were influenced by warp and weft), from Old English ōwef, āwef, from ō-, ā- (prefix meaning ‘away; from; off; out’) + wef (“web”) (only attested in the form gewef (“woof”); from wefan (“to weave”), from Proto-West Germanic weban (“to weave”), from Proto-Germanic webaną (“to weave”), from Proto-Indo-European webʰ- (“to braid; to weave”)). The verb is derived from the noun.
The interjection and noun are onomatopoeic. Interjection etymology 2 sense 2 (“used to express strong physical attraction for someone”) probably alludes to the eager barking of a dog. The verb is probably derived from the interjection and the noun. Verb etymology 2 sense 1.2 (“to eat (food) voraciously”) may be influenced by or, alternatively, derived from wolf (“to eat (food) voraciously, devour, gobble”).
From WWOOF, an acronym of World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms which is a network of national organizations that facilitate homestays on organic farms.
Often used as an interjection or a countable noun to describe the sound itself.