Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun plural Rural country or a jungle.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun slang Boondocks.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Shortening and alteration of boondocks.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From boondocks, via clipping and adding the suffix +‎ -ies, as if a singular *boony ("remote place (singular)").

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Examples

  • Now, what's happening in the boonies is anybody's guess. gpk

    On Outlaws and Scorpions 2006

  • The nice thing about the boonies is that visits by important, interesting people almost never overlap with each other.

    Framing Effects in the Boonies 2005

  • He lives like a hermit out in the boonies, which is weird and sort of spooky.

    A Girl's Legs Stirring The Air 2010

  • For most of us who grow up in the "boonies" and go to school in the East, it's like speaking two languages -- Bill Clinton, for example, is perfectly bilingual.

    BUSH AND McCAIN'S REAL PROBLEM IS SELF-DECEPTION 2008

  • It's in the "boonies" as all my friends say and anyone that comes here!

    BILLBOARDS & OTHER PROMOTIONAL TIDBITS 2006

  • The "boonies" provide a lot of benefits over already heavily populated areas.

    High Speed Chaos Michael Turton 2007

  • For most of us who grow up in the "boonies" and go to school in the East, it's like speaking two languages -- Bill Clinton, for example, is perfectly bilingual.

    MOLLY IVIN'S LAST WORDS / BEST ARTICLE 2007

  • For most of us who grow up in the "boonies" and go to school in the East, it's like speaking two languages -- Bill Clinton, for example, is perfectly bilingual.

    BUSH UNMASKED 2007

  • The second, most likely, since I am heading mostly to the "boonies", but time will tell.

    Declining Value of the Dollar 2004

  • Don't know if she's getting scared of being in the "boonies" like her mother always has been, or if she thought it too cold (she shed into her summer coat weeks ago, way ahead of her Mom and sister), or if she just didn't want to miss the milk leftovers from the boys 'cereal breakfasts.

    grouse Diary Entry grouse 2001

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