hoot1

[hoot] /hut/
verb (used without object)
1.
to cry out or shout, especially in disapproval or derision.
2.
to utter the cry characteristic of an owl.
3.
to utter a similar sound.
4.
Chiefly British. to blow a horn or whistle; toot.
verb (used with object)
5.
to assail with shouts of disapproval or derision:
The fans hooted the umpire.
6.
to drive out, off, or away by hooting.
7.
to express in hoots:
The crowd hooted its disagreement with the speaker.
noun
8.
the cry of an owl.
9.
any similar sound, as an inarticulate shout.
10.
a cry or shout, especially of disapproval or derision.
11.
British. a horn, siren, or whistle, especially a factory whistle.
12.
Informal. the least bit of concern, interest, or thought; trifle:
I don't give a hoot.
13.
Slang. an extremely funny person, situation, or event:
Your mother's a hoot when she tells about her escapades in boarding school.
Origin
1150-1200; Middle English hoten, huten, houten (v.); perhaps imitative
Related forms
hootingly, adverb
unhooted, adjective
Synonyms
1, 5. jeer, boo, hiss. 5. razz.

hoot2

[hoot] /hut/
interjection, Scot. and North England
1.
(used as an expression of impatience, dissatisfaction, objection, or dislike.)
Also, hoots.
Origin
1675-85; compare Swedish hut, Welsh hwt, Irish ut begone!
Examples from the web for hoot
  • Sleigh rides are offered twice a week, and there's a hoot-and-holler of a tubing run with big banked turns.
  • Night owls might think staying up late is a real hoot, but a new study hints that delayed sleep might have a sinister side.
  • Most of them that have to with theoretical science will not help humanity a hoot.
  • No one seems to give one hoot about any of the creatures involved in the experiments.
  • If they had, their colleagues would probably hoot them down.
  • And--at almost precisely that moment--the top tier of foodies stopped giving a hoot about organic food.
  • They were inclined to hoot when they thought the starting price too high.
  • The six-footer is a hoot-you can belly ride or stand up.
  • She had a round face and eyes that sparkled with the certainty that human folly ruled and wasn't that a hoot.
  • Realistically, the new currency regime is unlikely to matter a hoot in the short term.
British Dictionary definitions for hoot

hoot1

/huːt/
noun
1.
the mournful wavering cry of some owls
2.
a similar sound, such as that of a train whistle
3.
a jeer of derision
4.
(informal) an amusing person or thing: the weekend was a hoot
5.
not give a hoot, not to care at all
verb
6.
(often foll by at) to jeer or yell (something) contemptuously (at someone)
7.
(transitive) to drive (political speakers, actors on stage, etc) off or away by hooting
8.
(intransitive) to make a hoot
9.
(intransitive) (Brit) to blow a horn
Word Origin
C13 hoten, of imitative origin

hoot2

/huːt/
interjection
1.
an exclamation of impatience or dissatisfaction: a supposed Scotticism
Word Origin
C17: of unknown origin

hoot3

/huːt/
noun
1.
(Austral & NZ) a slang word for money
Word Origin
from Māori utu price
Word Origin and History for hoot
v.

"to call or shout in disapproval or scorn," c.1600, probably related to or from huten, "to shout, call out" (c.1200), probably ultimately imitative. First used of bird cries, especially that of the owl, mid-15c. Related: Hooted; hooting. As a noun from mid-15c. Meaning "a laugh, something funny" is first recorded 1942. Slang sense of "smallest amount or particle" (The hoot you don't give when you don't care) is from 1891.

"A dod blasted ole fool!" answered the captain, who, till now, had been merely an amused on-looker. "Ye know all this rumpus wont do nobuddy a hoot o' good--not a hoot." ["Alonge Traverse Shores," Traverse City, Michigan, 1891]
Hooter in the same sense is from 1839.
HOOTER. Probably a corruption of iota. Common in New York in such phrases as "I don't care a hooter for him." "This note ain't worth a hooter." [John Russell Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1877]

Idioms and Phrases with hoot

hoot

see: not give a damn (hoot)