shoo

[shoo] /ʃu/
interjection
1.
(used to scare or drive away a cat, dog, chickens, birds, etc.)
verb (used with object), shooed, shooing.
2.
to drive away by saying or shouting “shoo.”.
3.
to request or force (a person) to leave:
I'll have to shoo you out of here now.
verb (used without object), shooed, shooing.
4.
to call out “shoo.”.
Origin
1475-85; earlier showe, shough, shooh, ssou (interjection), imitative; compare German schu
Can be confused
shoe, shoo.
Examples from the web for shoo
  • We shoo them away every time they settle, and thankfully they haven't nested.
  • Opinion polls at first made him a shoo-in for the presidency.
  • The driver will shoo your hands away from the safety device with an exasperated huff.
  • If any of those three statements make you feel uppity, then shoo.
  • Many dealers say that buyers who would have been shoo-ins for a loan a year ago are now being turned away.
  • But access to the high end is not necessarily a shoo-in.
  • The elders shoo them away, but the shooing doesn't do much.
  • Some people, who mistakenly tried to shoo them away, got stung.
  • We always go out and shoo them off so they don't stay long.
British Dictionary definitions for shoo

shoo

/ʃuː/
interjection
1.
go away!: used to drive away unwanted or annoying people, animals, etc
verb shoos, shooing, shooed
2.
(transitive) to drive away by or as if by crying "shoo."
3.
(intransitive) to cry "shoo."
Word Origin
C15: imitative; related to Middle High German schū, French shou, Italian scio
Word Origin and History for shoo
v.

1620s, "to drive away by calling 'shoo,' " from the exclamation (late 15c.), perhaps instinctive, cf. German schu, Italian scioia. Related: Shooed; shooing.