▪ I. coo, v.
(kuː)
[Imitative of the sound.]
1. intr. To make the soft murmuring sound or note characteristic of doves and pigeons.
| 1670 Dryden Conq. Granada ii. i. ii, So, two kind turtles..sit alone, And coo, and harken to each other's moan. 1714 Gay Sheph. Week v. 29 As the Wood Pidgeon cooes without his Mate. 1789 G. White Selborne ii. xlii. (1853) 275 Doves coo in an amorous and mournful manner. 1815 Wordsw. Wks. i. Pref. 25 The stock-dove is said to coo, a sound well imitating the note of the bird. 1887 Besant The World went ii. 14 The doves cooed sleepily from the dovecot. |
b. reduplicated.
| 1879 R. Jefferies Wild Life in S. County 213 The dove may be heard..coo-cooing still more softly..to her mate. |
2. transf. To utter a sound like that of a dove; esp. said of an infant.
| 1736 Eliza Stanley tr. Hist. Prince Titi 11 He was perpetually smiling or cooing..he never cried, nay did not so much as whimper. 1870 Emerson Soc. & Solit., Dom. Life Wks. (Bohn) III. 42 Between his three or four sleeps, he [the Baby] coos like a pigeon-house. 1885 H. C. McCook Tenants of Old Farm 233 As he cooed on in this way he applied the web like a plaster to the torn flesh. |
3. To converse caressingly or amorously; usually in phr. to bill and coo: see bill v.2 3.
| 1816–7 Byron To T. Moore, What are you doing now, Oh Thomas Moore?.. Billing or cooing now, Which, Thomas Moore? 1855 Thackeray Newcomes I. 295 Jenny and Jessamy..billing and cooing in an arbour. |
4. trans. a. To utter or express by cooing. b. To send to rest, etc. by cooing.
| 1798 B. Johnson Orig. Poems 73 No longer now he..cooes the praise of ev'ry fair. 1814 S. Rogers Jacquel. ii. 3 The doves had cooed themselves to rest. 1834 Fraser's Mag. X. 444 A pair of turtle-doves lived in one nest, and cooed their love on the same branch. 1891 Wingfield Maid of Hon. II. xviii. 262 ‘The good Marquise’, she cooed. ‘The dear excellent Marquise.’ |
▪ II. coo, n.1
(kuː)
[f. prec.]
The sound uttered by doves and pigeons; a sound resembling this.
| 1729 Savage Wanderer i. (R.), Soft coos of distant doves. 1852 D. M. Moir Poems, Bloom and Blight v, The cushat's coo of love. 1876 Smiles Sc. Natur. vi. (ed. 4) 101 The wood-pigeon had uttered his last coo. |
b. reduplicated.
| 1883 Pall Mall G. 3 Sept. 2/1 The perpetual, never-ceasing song of the wind..and the coo-coo of the wood-pigeon. |
▪ III. coo, n.2
var. of co1, jackdaw.
| c 1400 Rowl. & O. 286 Coo ne pye that there come none. |
▪ IV. coo, int.
(kuː)
Also coo-er.
An exclamation expressing surprise or incredulity. slang.
| 1911 Punch 5 July 8/1 ‘My dear Bobby,’ I said, ‘I know everything about everything.’ ‘Coo—I bet you don't.’ 1927 C. Mackenzie Vestal Fire iii. ii, Coo! they don't mind bumping into you, do they? 1929 Raymond Family that Was i. iv, ‘Coo!’ exclaimed Joyce. ‘O Mummy, may he?’ 1934 P. Fleming One's Company xxiii. 168 But M.'s enormous stature drew many subdued cries of ‘Ai-ai-ai-yah!’, which is Chinese for ‘Coo-er!’ 1963 Times 22 Apr. 6/4 Coo, is that really the time? |