ho

Etymology 1

From Middle English ho, hoo (interjection), probably from Old Norse hó! (interjection, also, a shepherd's call). Compare Dutch ho, German ho, Old French ho! (“hold!, halt!”).

intj

1. (nautical) Used to attract attention to something sighted, usually by lookouts.
   Sail ho! ― Another boat is visible!
   Land ho! ― Land is visible!
   Man ho! ― A town is visible!
2. halloo; hey; a call to excite attention, or to give notice of approach.
   Ho! all ye females that would live unshent, / Fly from the reach of Cyned's regiment.
   "That was a shot! But the captain will be glad! Ho, ho, here we are!" he cried till it was re-echoed from all the hills around. 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 93
   So I catch you. You stealer! Ho! Ho! 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 11
3. (rare) Said accompanying a vigorous attack.
   "I'll hit you again, you thief !” he cried angrily, shaking “Ho-ho-ho!” he croaked. 1900, Ching Foo, the Yellow Dwarf; Or the Bradys and the Opium Smokers, page 2
   It was quite an astonishing show. Colonel Paul Malone of the U.S. Army kept thwacking away with all his might and main, shouting "Ho!" 1955, John Sack, From Here to Shimbashi - Volume 637, page 172
   Mona: Hee! Ha! Ho! Ha! The brain buffet is closed, buddy! Take that! And this! 1999, Mona the Vampire, "Attack of the Living Scarecrow" (season 1, episode 1a)
   Ho! Take that vile Foresythe!” He snapped his wrist, clicking the stick against the bowed sides of a barrel. 2008, Daniel Hellmund, The Answer for Laria, page 93

noun

1. A stop; a halt; a moderation of pace.
   There is no ho with them. 1604, Thomas Dekker, The Honest Whore

Etymology 2

Pronunciation spelling of whore in a non-rhotic accent with the dough-door merger, which is found in some varieties of African American Vernacular English. Compare mo (“more”), fo' (“for; four”).

noun

1. (slang, derogatory) A whore; a sexually promiscuous woman; in general use as a highly offensive name-calling word for a woman with connotations of loose sexuality.
   Bros before hoes!
   So you want to see the show? You really don't have to be a ho. 2001, “Psycho”, in Toxicity, performed by Serj Tankian with System of a Down
   "You looking for one of my ho's?" the diminutive man asked Sigmund. "A hoe?" Sigmund asked, wondering why the little man wished to sell him farming equipment in the city. "You know, a ho. A tute. A honey, A righteous bit of poontang, my brother," he said. "I don't follow," Sigmund said. "Indubitably, I means a ho, a whore. I can tell you is a player. You want a whore?" he asked. 2010, Dennis Shields, God Went Fishing, page 69

verb

1. To act as a ho.
   She holds down a decent job during the day, but is secretly hoeing around with at least 5 different trifling men. 18 November 2003, Greywolf Johnson, “Do you know any of these? ”, in alt.strange.days (Usenet)

Etymology 3

From Middle English howe, houwe, hoȝe, from Old English hogu and hoga, from Proto-Germanic *hugô, *hugiz, *huguz (“mind, thought, understanding”), akin to Old High German hugu, hugi (Middle High German hüge), Old Saxon hugi (Middle Dutch höghe, Dutch heug), Old Norse hugr, Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌲𐍃 (hugs).

noun

1. (obsolete) Care, anxiety, trouble, sorrow.
   Though there bee A thousand cares that heape my hoe. 1567, George Turberville, “A. Sani di Cure Aunsweres”, in Heroycall Epistles of Ovid, 155v
   Him that..this gentlewoman is in such a hoe about. 1798, Charlotte Turner Smith, The Young Philosopher, I. 195
   But by day to the zun they must rise 1869-70, William Barnes, “The Widow’s House”, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect
   I doänt see as you've any call to putt yourself in no such terrible gurt hoe over it. 1875, William Douglas Parish, A Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect (at cited word)

Etymology 4

From Middle English howen, hoȝen, hogien, from Old English hogian, hugian, from Proto-Germanic *hugjaną. Cognate with Middle Scots huik, Old High German hucken, Old Saxon huggjan, Dutch heugen, Old Norse hyggja, Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hugjan).

verb

1. (obsolete) To care, be anxious, long.
   To ho for anything, to long for any thing. Berks. 1787, F. Grose, Provinc. Gloss (at cited word)
   Ho...to long for anything; to be careful and anxious. West. 1847-78, J. O. Halliwell, Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words
   But still 'tis happiness to know That there's a God above us; An' he, by day an' night do ho Vor all ov us an' love us. 1869-70, William Barnes, The Bells of Alderburnham, Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect
   To ho and hanker after thik woman. 1874, T. Hardy, Far from Madding Crowd, II. xxiii. 289
   Ho, to long for; to care greatly for. 1888, B. Lowsley, Gloss. Berks. Words & Phrases