Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A common vulgar form of hollo.

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

  • noun In South Midland and Southern (dialects of American English), a hollow.
  • noun A rural road in the Appalachians in the U.S.A.
  • noun A yell, shout.
  • noun By extension, any communication to get somebody's attention.
  • verb intransitive To yell or shout.
  • verb transitive To call out one or more words
  • verb To complain, gripe

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a very loud utterance (like the sound of an animal)
  • verb complain
  • verb shout out
  • verb utter a sudden loud cry
  • noun a small valley between mountains

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Variation of hollow.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

American variant of holla or hallo. Possibly derived from the Irish Gaelic oll-bhúir, pronounced h-oll-oor, meaning a terrific yell, a great roar.

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Examples

  • But apparently a "holler" is just a "hollow" – a valley between mountains – in West Virginia.

    CASTING DIRECTOR LOVES INBREEDING 2008

  • But the opener did turn a bit testy in the eighth when Grant Balfour hit J.D. Drew in the right shoulder with a high fastball, prompting a few Red Sox to holler from the bench.

    USATODAY.com 2008

  • Some folks want to conserve energy and avoid making the trek to the 4th floor walk-up apartment, so they will just holler from the street below.

    Archive 2008-01-01 Nupur 2008

  • But the opener did turn a bit testy in the eighth inning when Grant Balfour hit J.D. Drew in the right shoulder with a high fastball, prompting a few Red Sox to holler from the bench.

    Dice-K masterful as Red Sox beat Rays in ALCS opener 2008

  • His mother (?) and another 40-something woman were helping him carry things down the stairs, as were two teenaged girls -- one of which I would surely recognize if she were to holler from the stairwell (where the acoustics promise hearty echos), HEY, BRADLEY IS PISSING IN THE PARKING LOT!

    Cherie waxes vindictive 2004

  • Then claim your title or holler at the guard so you can conduct your business elsewhere.

    Push Comes to Shove Oasis 2010

  • Also: I have a friend who is a casting director and he said that he spent all of Wednesday looking for "holler" Canadians with weird flat faces.

    A SOPRANOS MOVIE? 2008

  • Similar to the posting by Jeff4066, "Fair to middlin '" was a common response to, "How are you?" in my hometown, and I was in college before it was really driven home that "holler" isn't proper English for "large ditch, etc ..."

    Long-Lost Language 2008

  • Also: I have a friend who is a casting director and he said that he spent all of Wednesday looking for "holler" Canadians with weird flat faces.

    A SOPRANOS MOVIE? 2008

  • That's why we put that it's in a 'holler' in the mountains.

    Archive 2008-02-01 Kay Olson 2008

Comments

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  • Eenie, meenie, minie, mo,

    Catch a tiger by the toe,

    If he hollers let him go,

    Eenie, meenie, minie, mo.

    - traditional.

    November 4, 2008

  • Oh, I didn't know 'tiger' was traditional. I have learnt something.

    November 4, 2008

  • "Tiger" was what I learned as a child from my parents, who understood that the version they had grown up with, or at least my Virginian mother had grown up with, in which an African-American was the object of the hunt, was no longer acceptable in polite society.

    November 4, 2008

  • I grew up with your mother's version, too, rolig.

    November 4, 2008

  • The book from which I transcribed this version, using tiger rather than what rhymes with Tigger, was published in 1957.

    November 4, 2008

  • It was 'tiger' for me, too -- but I remember hearing the other version from time to time when we moved around the country.

    November 4, 2008