▪ I. † ho, n.1 Obs.
Also 1 hóh, pl. hós.
[OE. hóh, hó:—*hanho-, not found in the cognate langs., but recognized as the primitive of which heel:—*hâhil:—*hanhil- is a deriv.: see heel; also hoe n.1, heugh, hough ns.]
The heel.
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. iii. 15 Heo tobryt þin heafod and þu syrwst onᵹean hyre ho. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Spelm.) lv. 6 Hos mine [Vesp. Ps. helspuran mine, Thorpe hælun mine]. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John xiii. 18 Se þe ytt hlaf myd me ahefþ hys ho [Lind. hel] onᵹean me. c 1300 St. Margarete 160 He ȝenede & gan his ouere cheoke ouer hire heued do, & his nyþere cheoke byneþe at hire ho, & forsaulȝ so þis maide. |
▪ II. ho, n.6 slang (chiefly U.S., orig. in African-American usage).
Brit. /həʊ/, U.S. /hoʊ/
Forms: 19– ho, 19– 'ho, 19– ho', 19– hoe, 19– who', 19– whoe
[Alteration of whore n., respelt to reflect a pronunciation frequent in African-American usage.
Sense 2 is probably the earlier use, although attested slightly later.]
1. derogatory. A sexually promiscuous woman; (also, sometimes with weakened force) a woman.
| 1964 R. D. Abrahams Deep down in Jungle Gloss. 266 Main who', best girlfriend. 1988R. Walters Treat her like Prostitute (song) in L. A. Stanley Rap: the Lyrics (1992) 298 Now your girl she don't like to have sex a lot And today she's ready and she's hot hot hot... Next thing you know the ho starts to ill She says, ‘I love you, Harold’ and your name is Will. 1992 Esquire July 14/2 What is surprising is Esquire's stereotypical portrayal of black women as oversexed ‘hos’—a depiction that was used to justify the raping of black women throughout slavery. 1995 Wire Jan. 24/2 In the next verse or the one after, there was a lot of stuff about beating the shit out of your 'ho if she hasn't got a meal waiting for you when you get home. 2000 Elle Sept. 283, I tend to design for ghetto fabulous ‘ho's’, pop divas and Portobello babes. |
2. A prostitute.
| 1965W. King in Liberator Aug. 22/2 Let me cop a Benny Franklin until my whoe brings me some dough. 1967B. Dylan Tiny Montgomery (song) in Basement Tapes (1975) (sheet music) Three-legged man And a hot-lipped hoe Tell 'em all Montgomery says hello. 1974 Black World Aug. 55 ‘Damn!’ he thought, ‘times are so tight even the ho's are working double shifts.’ 1988L. Parker Jimmy (song) in L. A. Stanley Rap: the Lyrics (1992) 44 Here is a message to the super hos Just keep in mind When Jimmy grows It grows and grows and grows. 1994 Straight No Chaser Summer 17/1 It's fat like a $20 ho sittin' on yo face. 2000 N.Y. Times Mag. 6 Aug. 40/3 He be pimpin' hos and everything. |
▪ III. ho, int.1 and n.2
(həʊ)
Also 4–6 hoo, (6 hoe, hoha), 6–7 hoh, 6–9 hoa.
[A natural exclamation. Not recorded in OE.; cf. ON. hó ‘int., also a shepherd's call’.]
A. int.
1. An exclamation expressing, according to intonation, surprise, admiration, exultation (often ironical), triumph, taunting.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 12129 ‘Ho!’ [Gött. O ho!] all þan cun þai cri, ‘Qua herd euer sua gret ferli’. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. i. 205 Ho now you strike like the blindman. a 1623 ― Epit. John Combes in Aubrey Lives, ‘Hoh!’ quoth the Devill, ‘'Tis my John o Combe’. 1785 Burns Jolly Beggars Air iv, Sing, ho, my braw John Highland man! 1808 Scott Marm. ii. xxix, ‘Ho! shifts she thus?’ King Henry cried. 1830 Tennyson Poems, Eng. War Song, Shout for England! Ho! for England! George for England! |
2. An exclamation to attract attention.
| c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 107 Then hyed I me to Belyngsgate; And one cryed, ‘hoo! go we hence!’ 1575 Gascoigne Pr. Pleas. Kenilw. Poems 1869 II. 97 Ho, Eccho; Eccho, ho, where art thou, Eccho, where? 1583 Hollyband Campo di Fior 327 Hoe boye, where is your maister? 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. vi. 25 Hoa! who's within? 1611 Bible Isa. lv. 1 Ho, euery one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. i. 85 Then said Christian aloud, Ho, ho, So-ho; stay and I will be your Companion. At that Faithful looked behind him. 1788 Wesley Wks. (1872) VI. 303 Ho! Art thou one who readest these words? 1820 Shelley Œdipus ii. ii. 116 Hoa! hoa! tallyho! tallyho! ho! ho! Come, let us hunt these ugly badgers down. 1832 Macaulay Armada 28 Ho! gunners, fire a loud salute: ho! gallants, draw your blades. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle (1859) 44 ‘Ho, the ship, ahoy!’ ‘Hillo!’ was the reply. 1864 Ballantyne Lifeboat (ed. 2) 99 Ho! comrades, look alive, here comes the lifeboat! |
b. After the name of a thing or place to which attention is called: used by boatmen, etc., to call attention to the place for which they are starting; hence, generally, with a sense of destination.
| 1593 Peele Chron. Edw. I, Wks. (Rtldg.) 409/1 A cry of ‘Westward, ho!’ Q. Elinor. ‘Woman, what noise is this I hear?’ Potter's Wife..‘It is the watermen that call for passengers to go westward now.’ 1595 Shakes. John iii. iii. 73 On toward Callice, hoa. 1601 ― Twel. N. iii. i. 146 Then Westward-hoe: Grace and good disposition attend your Ladyship. 1747 (title) A Race for Canterbury or Lambeth, Ho! 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! (1874) 9 Thou too shalt forth, and westward ho, beyond thy wildest dreams. 1881 Hindley Cries Lond. 141 Each night round Temple-Bar she plies, With Diddle Dumplings, ho! |
3. As a call to animals, with various senses.
| 1878 Cumbld. Gloss., Ho,..a word used in guiding horses to the left; come hither. Ho Bye,..stand out of the way. 1881 Oxfordsh. Gloss., Ho! ho! a word used to call sheep to their food. |
4. Repeated, ho! ho! or ho! ho! ho!, it expresses derision or derisive laughter.
| [c 1150 Vita St. Godrici (Surtees) 354 Quibus ille, Ho! Ho! Si in veritate tam pulchra fuisses, quam exterius appares.] 1552 Huloet, Ho, ho, a voice of wondringe or disdaininge, hui. 1575 J. Still Gamm. Gurton ii. iii. in Hazl. Dodsley III. 205 Did not the devil cry, ho, ho, ho? 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 421 Ho, ho, ho; coward, why com'st thou not? 1627 Drayton Nymphidia Wks. 1753 II. 461 Hoh, hoh, quoth Hob, God save thy grace. 1763 Bickerstaff Love in Village i. vi, Serve the king, master! no, no, I pay the king, That's enough for me. Ho, ho, ho! 1820 Scott Monast. v, ‘Ho! ho! ho!’ and he shook his portly sides at his own jest. 1895 M. E. Francis Daughter of Soil 70 Ho! ho! ho! Twenty-two—did you ever hear o' sich a tale? |
5. With other interjections.
See also gee-ho! heigh-ho! hey-ho! holla ho! hollo ho! o ho! oh ho! so ho! wa ho! what ho! wo ho! yo ho! etc.
| 1792 Ch. Smith Desmond II. 43 Hohoop, hohoop, Newminster, it is time to go, my lad—come, let us be off. 1821 Blackw. Mag. X. 35/1 Ho, spy! is chiefly a summer game. Some of the party of boys conceal themselves, and when in their hiding-places call out these words to their companions. 1879 Marzials Song, Twickenham Ferry, O-hoi-ye-ho, Ho-ye-ho, who's for the ferry? 1892 Daily News 26 May 3/2 Five more explosions followed. Each time the miner..uttered his warning, ‘Ho—Ho—Ho— Hoy’, and each time it felt as if the 1,200 acres of rock shook and trembled with each successive explosion. |
¶ 6. Cockney for O, oh.
| 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge III. 405 ‘Ho master, ho mim!’ cried Miggs..‘Ho what a cutting thing it is’. |
B. n. A cry of ‘ho’, in any of the prec. senses.
(Some instances may belong to the next.)
| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1675 An heraud on a Scaffold made an Oo [4 MSS. hoo] Til al the noyse of peple was ydo. c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 265 Atour the wattir [they] led him with great hoo Till hyr awin hous with outyn ony hoo. c 1480 Crt. of Love 270 A messenger..from the king, which let commaund anon, Through-out the court to make an ho and cry. 1533 Bellenden Livy i. (1822) 50 Quhen the serjandis had, with thair noyis and hohas, warnit the Albanis to here the kingis concioun. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. v. iii. 18 With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino. |
▪ IV. ho, int.2 and n.3
Also 4–6 hoo, 6 hoa, 6–7 hoe.
[a. OF. ho halt! stop!]
† A. int. A call to stop or to cease what one is doing. to say ho or cry ho: to stay, cease, check oneself. Obs. (It is often impossible to separate the interj. from the imperative of ho v.2)
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2330 Þer-fore, hende, now hoo! c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 848 This duc..pulled out a swerd and cride hoo, Namoore vp on peyne of lesynge of youre heed. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 201 Of golde he shulde such plente Receive, till he saide ho. 1408 in Rymer Fœdera VIII. 540 Emisso per Nos Silentii Vocabulo consueto, scilicet, Ho, Ho, Ho (quod est) Cessate, Cessate, Cessate. c 1510 Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) F ij b, The sacke without bottome which neuer can say hoo [rime gape for moo]. 1535 Coverdale Prov. xxx. 15 There be thre thinges that are neuer satisfied, and the fourth saieth neuer hoo. 1577 Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. in Holinshed (1587) II. 26/2 They would not crie hoa here, but sent in post some of their covent to Rome. 1631 R. H. Arraignm. Whole Creature xiii. §1. 175 To satisfie this all-devouring Minotaure, till it cry Hoe, or enough. |
b. A call to an animal to stop or stand still.
| 1828 Webster, Ho, a word used by teamsters in stopping their teams..This word is pronounced also whō, or hwō. 1894 A. J. Stuart-Wortley Grouse 111 Many a one [dog] is spoilt by being so used to the sign and the ejaculation of ‘Ho!’ that he does not believe in the necessity of standing steady unless he hears it. Ibid. 112 The keeper..sees the dog drawing on birds, and immediately up goes his hand and ‘Ho!’ he shouts. |
B. n. Cessation, halt, pause, intermission; limit. withouten ho, without stopping, straight on; no ho, no cessation, end, or limit; out of all ho, out of all bounds of moderation. Obs. or dial.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 1034 (1083) Þan gan he telle his wo, But þat was endeles with-outen ho [v.r. hoo]. c 1470 Henry Wallace vi. 406 To the herrold [he] said syne with outyn ho. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. cxlii. 396 There is no hoo bytwene them as longe as speares, swordes, axes, or dagers wyll endure. c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon xii. 73 He loued the faire maid of Fresingfield once out of all hoe. 1597 R. Bruce Let. in Wodrow Life (1843) 167 If they could have keeped any hoe or measure in their crooked course. 1684 Littleton Lat. Dict., To have no ho, modum tenere nullum. Ibid., Out of all ho, immodicé. 1711 Swift Jrnl. to Stella Lett. 1766–8 III. 135 When your tongue runs, there's no ho with you. 1818 Todd s.v., Mr. Malone [d. 1812] says, it is yet common in Ireland: as, there is no ho with him, i.e. he knows no bounds. 1828 Craven Dial., s.v. There is ‘no ho with him’, he is not to be restrained. |
▪ V. ho, v.1 rare.
[f. ho int.1: cf. ON. hóa ‘to shout ho! or hoy!’ (Vigf.)]
intr. To cry ‘ho’.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 61 But hoen [v. rr. heon, howen howlen] on hym as an hounde and hoten hym go þennes. 1644 Quarles Sheph. Orac. iv, N. Ho, Shepheard, ho. P. I prithee leave thy hoing. |
▪ VI. † ho, v.2 Obs.
Also 5–6 hoo.
[f. ho int.2, taken as the imperative of a vb.]
intr. To cease, stop, pause.
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 103 Till that men comen to the gates Of paradis, and there ho. a 1400–50 Alexander 2835 For-þi hoo with þi hautes & þine vnhemed wittis. 14.. in Archæol. LIV. i. 166/184 Here of herbys wul y ho. c 1430 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems 195 Whanne þou art tauȝt þat þou schuldist hoo Of sweering. c 1500 Maid Emlyn 411 in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. 96 Naye there do I ho. |
▪ VII. ho, v.3 dial.
(həʊ)
[A recent spelling of the OE. vb. hoᵹian, ME. hoȝe, howe: see how, howe v. Cf. hoe n.3]
intr. To care, be anxious, long.
| 1787 Grose Prov. Gloss., Ho. To ho for anything, to long for any thing. Berks. 1847–78 Halliwell, Ho..to long for anything; to be careful and anxious. West. 1874 T. Hardy Madding Crowd II. 289 To ho and hanker after thik woman. 1881 Isle of Wight Gloss., Ho. 1888 Berksh. Gloss., Ho, to long for; to care greatly for. |
▪ VIII. ho, int.3
A sailor's cry in heaving or hauling: see heave ho; also how int.1
▪ IX. ho
obs. f. he pron., how, who; var. heo, hi prons. Obs., o adv., ever; see also hose.