pooh

Etymology

Originally onomatopoeic ("perhaps ancient" according to Online Etymology Dictionary) for a puff of air, after earlier poh and similar to later pew, phew, pho, phoo, poof. Later influenced by poop, onomatopoeic for the sound of flatulating and defecating, and by interjections of disgust similar to phew, pee-ew. Interjection for an unpleasant smell possibly linked to French puer (“to stink”).

intj

1. Expressing dismissal, contempt, impatience, etc.
   I am carelesse what the fustie World speakes of me, puh. 1600, Ben Jonson, Every Man out of His Humor, iii, i, sig. iii
   Pooh, ha, ha, ha, I know you envy me. 1694, William Congreve, Double-Dealer, I, i, 2
2. Expressing disgust at an unpleasant smell.
   Pooh!... How you smell of tobacco. 1859, S.S. Steele, Conjugal Lesson, page 182
3. (euphemistic) Alternative form of poo: a minced oath for 'shit'.
   Mom offers everybody fudge and says ‘Oh, pooh!’ when she gets upset. July 22 1992, Time, page 55

noun

1. (countable) An instance of saying "pooh".
   A thing which causes many ‘poohs’ and ‘pishes’. 1818, Lord Byron, Beppo, canto vii, l. 4
2. (uncountable, childish) Alternative form of poo: feces.
   ‘You're rather in the pooh with the Adelaide police.’ ‘How much do I stink with them?’ 1961, Camille Auguste Marie Caseleyr, The Living Come First, page 177
3. (countable, chiefly UK, childish) Alternative form of poo: A piece of feces; an act of defecation.

verb

1. (intransitive) To say "pooh".
   The wrimouth'd Crittick... 1614, The Nipping or Snipping of Abuses, John Taylor, L4
   The Doctor... pshaw'd and pooh'd for some time. 1798, Charlotte Smith, The Young Philosopher, volume I, page 44
2. (transitive) To say "pooh" to.
   ‘Pooh! pooh!’ re-echoed his mother, ‘don't pooh me, John.’ 1858, Archer Polson, Law & Lawyers, page 15
3. (intransitive, childish) Alternative form of poo: To defecate or dirty something with feces.
   My cat poohed in here. April 1 1989, Crisis, page 19
   We all know what happened to them—they... poohed their pants. March 13 2003, The Sun