boo

Etymology 1

From earlier (15c.) boh, coined to create a loud and startling sound. Compare Middle English bus! (“bang!”, interjection), Latin boō (“cry aloud, roar, shout”, verb), Ancient Greek βοάω (boáō, “shout”, verb).

intj

1. A loud exclamation intended to scare someone, especially a child. Usually used when one has been hidden from the victim and then suddenly appears unexpectedly.
2. Used ironically in a situation where one had the opportunity to scare someone by speaking suddenly.
3. An exclamation used by a member or many members of an audience, as at a stage play or sports game, to indicate derision or disapproval of what has just occurred.
   I ask them to record their votes in my favour, and I ask, is there any man who will dare to call me a stranger (hear, hear, and booing)? 1852-07-15, “Dundalk Election”, in The Freeman's Journal, volume lxxxv, Dublin, page 3

noun

1. A derisive shout made to indicate disapproval.
   ...Hodgson headed down the tunnel with the boos of fans ringing in his ears after an eighth league defeat of the season... December 29, 2010, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC

verb

1. (intransitive) To shout extended boos derisively.
   When he took the podium, the crowd booed.
   Nobody booed and nobody clapped 18 Oct 2004, The New Yorker
   Substitute Charlie Austin scored seven minutes into his Southampton debut as a lacklustre Manchester United were booed off at Old Trafford. 23 January 2016, Phil Dakwes, “Man Utd 0–1 Southampton”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), BBC Sport
2. (transitive) To shout extended boos at, as a form of derision.
   The protesters loudly booed the visiting senator.

Etymology 2

From beau.

noun

1. (US, Canada, African-American Vernacular, slang) A close acquaintance or significant other.
   No matter what I do / All I think about is you / Even when I'm with my boo 2002, “Dilemma”, in Nellyville, performed by Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland
   Something about having to call her boo because he was getting off work and he likes to talk to her for at least half of his commute home. 2021, Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl, Bloomsbury, page 309

Etymology 3

noun

1. (slang) Cannabis.
   […] sexually promiscuous girl who smoked boo all day and socialized with junkies when she wasn't busy banging away in bed […] 1967, George E. Andrews, Simon Vinkenoog, The Book of Grass: An Anthology on Indian Hemp, page 213
   Like I have smoked boo, drunk whiskey, and shot dope, and I was going through all three bags at once. 1984, Raphael S. Ezekiel, Voices from the corner: poverty and racism in the inner city, page 56
   Grandpa doesn't want Grandma and their kids and grandkids to know that he had to get penicillin shots all the time, or that he smoked boo (marijuana) on a daily basis, or that he dealt in the black market, or that he had yobos (purchased live-in sex slaves). 2019, Ron Cook, On Guard in the General's Chorus, page 2

Etymology 4

Likely onomatopoeic.

verb

1. (now rare, Northern England) To make a sound characteristic of cattle; to moo.
   The cow's tether is put about the neck of the individual who has lost the cow, and he must go about booing like a cow till atonement is made. 1850, “The Missionary Herald”, in The Baptist Magazine, volume 42
   In the north of England people very often speak about the "oxen booing" (not lowing) 1894, Emily Seytter, “Barnyard Voices”, in Our Animal Friends: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine, volume 21
   I remember being in the Great Nut Walk and hearing Old Nettle 'booing' like a cow outside . 1987, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl

Etymology 5

Dubious; perhaps adaptation of French beau (“beautiful”).

noun

1. A tail feather from an ostrich.
   Burglary.—On Monday night or early on Tuesday morning, some thieves effected an entrance into the premises of Mr. W. J. Laybourne, ostrich feather manufacturer, 60, St. John-street, West Smithfield, and carried off 1,000 prime white feathers, 500 long single black, 800 double ditto, 3,000 mixed colours, 500 spadones, 300 white plumes, 300 coloured boos, and 400 long white light feminas, which, with other property, were valued at about £4,000. 15 June 1877, The Leeds Mercury, volume 114, number 12,225, Leeds, West Yorkshire, page 2, column 5
   White Boos declined 10s. to 15s. per lb.; Femina Boos 2s. 6d. to 5s. per lb., and drab Boos about 2s. 6d. per lb. 1 February 1891, “Report on the December Public Sales of Ostrich and Osprey Feathers, Bird Skins, &c.”, in The Humming Bird: A Monthly Scientific, Artistic, and Industrial Review, volume I., number 2, page 16, column 1
   The usual kinds of ostrich feathers known to the trade come into the Tripoli market. These are whites, blacks, feminas, byocks, spadonas, boos, drabs and floss. 12 August 1909, “Ostrich Feathers of Tripoli”, in Neenah Daily Times, volume 53, number 8,451, Neenah, Wis., Menasha, Wis., column 5

Etymology 6

verb

1. (childish, US) To defecate.