Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- See
cooie .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A peculiar cry uttered by the Australian aborigines as a call to attract attention, and also in common use among the Australian colonists. In the actual call the first syllable is much prolonged (k�"-) and the second ends in a shrill, staccato ē. To represent the sound itself the spelling
cooee is generally used. - noun within earshot.
- intransitive verb Australia To call out
cooee .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- interjection Alternative spelling of
cooee . - verb Alternative spelling of
cooee .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word cooey.
Examples
-
I may here remark that the word cooey, as representing the cry of all Australian aborigines, belonged originally to only one tribe or region, but it has been carried about by whites from tribe to tribe, and is used by the civilised and semi-civilised races; but wild natives who have never seen whites use no such cry.
Australia Twice Traversed, Illustrated, Ernest Giles 1866
-
And in her satisfaction, Freda gave a loud "cooey" -- much louder than was needed, as her companions were close by.
The Christmas Fairy and Other Stories Frances E. Crompton 1883
-
Disappointed and nearly disheartened, he communicated to his master below the ungrateful intelligence that nothing was perceptible; but preparatory to his descent, he gave a loud "cooey," in the faint hope that it might attract the attention of some human being.
Fern Vale (Volume 1) or the Queensland Squatter Colin Munro
-
Dick, hearing that he was not pursued, pulled up in a half a mile, and gave a loud, shrill "cooey," the Australian call.
In Times of Peril 1867
-
I shouted the paean of victory, and was answered by a loud "cooey" from the valley and the voice of my friend
The Bushman — Life in a New Country Edward Wilson Landor 1844
-
In a few moments we heard a faint "cooey" in reply, and started in that direction.
The Bushman — Life in a New Country Edward Wilson Landor 1844
-
B. had heard his rifle down the valley, and we now began to "cooey" for him.
The Bushman — Life in a New Country Edward Wilson Landor 1844
-
The owner there is English, too old for the blonde highlights and earrings he sports and a barely concealed homosexual who I half expected to answer my ring of the bell with a "cooey".
TravelPod.com TravelStream™ — Recent Entries at TravelPod.com 2010
-
"cooey" is, as its name implies, a call having the sound its orthography indicates; with a prolonged dwelling upon the first syllable, and a sharp determined utterance in its termination.
Fern Vale (Volume 1) or the Queensland Squatter Colin Munro
-
An' Freedom's on the Wallaby Oh dont you hear her cooey
time for a holiday Bill Kerr 2007
yarb commented on the word cooey
I cooeyed to him, but he would not hear.
- Samuel Butler, Erewhon
July 18, 2008