choo-choo
(ˈtʃuːtʃuː)
[Echoic.]
An imitation of the sound of a steam-engine, used as a nursery name for a railway train or locomotive. Chiefly U.S.
| 1903 G. Ade People you Know 110 And now Saturday Afternoon had come and Percy M. Piker was hanging on the rear end of the choo-choo. 1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 7 Trains are still called puff-puffs or puffers as against the American onomatope choo-choo. 1938 S. Chase Tyranny of Words xiv. 178 Like a little boy making himself a choo-choo after seeing a locomotive. 1958 V. Bellerby in P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz xvii. 205 The mill-girl of Burnley sings about the ‘Chatanooga choo-choo’. 1963 Guardian 27 Sept. 11/5 A number of ancient turns (including the choo-choo train routine). |