▪ I. wo, int.
(wəʊ)
[Variant of who int.]
1. In wo ho, wo ha, wo ho ho, wo ha ho: a falconer's call to a hawk; also allusively.
| 1588 Marprel. Epistle (Arb.) 33 Wohohow, brother London, do you remember Thomas Allen? 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. v. i. 39 Clo. Sola, sola: wo ha ho, sola, sola. 1599 T. Cutwode Caltha Poet. (Roxb.) cxxxvi, Come bird com..come to me, With so ho ho, and wo ho ho cries she. 1606 Chapman Gentl. Usher v. i, Ile rush vpon them With a most hideous cry, the Duke, the Duke, the Duke, Ha, ha, ha, wo ho, come againe, I say. 1829 Scott Anne of G. xvii, A woodcock sprung from some bushes, and the young lady threw off her merlin in pursuit. ‘Sa ho—sa ho—wo ha!’ hollowed the falconer. |
2. A call to a horse to stop (cf. who int., whoa, woa, and way int.). Also used in conjunction with other interjections, as wo-back, wo-ho, hait-wo.
Also dial. in various combinations with special applications; cf. quot. 1894.
| 1787 ‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsem. (1809) 24 That he is docile, and will stop short with a ‘Wohey’. a 1800 Pegge Anecd. (1814) 11 When our waggoners and carmen make use of the terms ge and wo to their horses. 1801 G. Colman Poor Gentl. i. i. 1 Farmer Harrowby, without. Wo, ho! gently wi 'em! so there! 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words, Wooh or Woo-e, an imperative to stop cart horses. a 1825 Hait-wo [see hait int.]. 1834 Whately in Life & Corr. (1866) I. 247 It is stopping the Horse by a woo-ee instead of a sharp pull of the curb. 1837 Dickens Pickw. v, ‘Wo-o!’ cried Mr. Pickwick, as the tall quadruped evinced a decided inclination to back into the coffee-room window. 1838 ― Nich. Nick. vi, ‘Wo ho!’ cried the guard,..running to the leaders' heads. 1840 Thackeray Barber Cox Mar., I pulled very hard, and cried out, Wo! but he wouldn't: and on I went galloping for the dear life. 1871 [see gee int.1]. 1879 Jefferies Wild Life in S. Co. 142 The carter's lads shouting ‘Woaght!’ to the horses as they steer through the gateway. 1894 Northumbld. Gloss., Wo, Wo-hay, a cartman's order to his horse to stop or stand still. Wo-hi and Wo-hick, turn to left or near side. Wo-hup or Wo-gee, turn to right or off side. |
Hence wo v. intr., to call ‘wo’ to a horse; also in vbl. n. (also wohohing).
| 1883 Good Words 10 The wo-wo-ing of the ploughboy. 1885 Rider Haggard Witch's Head xxxiii, Presently from the stables there arose a sound of kicking, plunging, and wohohing impossible to describe. 1889 T. E. Brown Manx Witch 3 ‘You're very late on the road,’ he says—and waein and woin. |
▪ II. wo
obs. form of how.
| 1476 Stonor Papers (Camden) II. 5, I cannat tell wo sone. |
▪ III. wo
obs. or arch. form of woe.