Hoot vs Wail - What's the difference?
hoot | wail | Synonyms |
A derisive cry or shout.
The cry of an owl.
(US, slang) A fun event or person. (See hootenanny)
A small particle
* 1878 , John Hanson Beadle, Western Wilds, and the Men who Redeem Them , page 611, Jones Brothers, 1878
To cry out or shout in contempt.
* Dryden
To make the cry of an owl.
* Shakespeare
To assail with contemptuous cries or shouts; to follow with derisive shouts.
* Jonathan Swift
A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.
Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.
A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.
To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.
To weep, lament persistently or bitterly.
To make a noise like mourning or crying.
To lament; to bewail; to grieve over.
(slang, music) To perform with great liveliness and force.
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(obsolete) To choose; to select.
* Henryson
Hoot is a synonym of wail.
As nouns the difference between hoot and wail
is that hoot is a derisive cry or shout while wail is a prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.As verbs the difference between hoot and wail
is that hoot is to cry out or shout in contempt while wail is to cry out, as in sorrow or anguish or wail can be (obsolete) to choose; to select.hoot
English
Noun
(en noun)- Well, it was Sunday morning, and the wheat nothing like ripe; but it was a chance, and I got onto my reaper and banged down every hoot of it before Monday night.
Usage notes
* (small particle) The term is nearly always encountered in a negative sense in such phrases as don't care a hoot'' or ''don't give two hoots . * (derisive cry) The phrase a hoot and a holler'' has a very different meaning to ''hoot and holler''. The former is a short distance, the latter is a verb of ''derisive cry .Verb
(en verb)- Matrons and girls shall hoot at thee no more.
- the clamorous owl that nightly hoots
- Partridge and his clan may hoot me for a cheat.
See also
* hooter * hootenannyAnagrams
* ----wail
English
Etymology 1
Probably from (etyl)Etymology inWebster's Dictionary
Noun
(en noun)- She let out a loud, doleful wail .
- The wail of snow-dark winter winds.
- A bird's wail in the night.
Verb
(en verb)- The wind wailed and the rain streamed down.
- to wail one's death
- (Shakespeare)
Derived terms
* wailer * wailinglyReferences
Etymology 2
Compare Icelandic word for "choice".Verb
(en verb)- Wailed wine and meats
