coo-coo
/ˈkuku/
coo-coo noun: the two-note vocalisation made by the male of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), or imitation of this by a cuckoo clock.
Noun (1)
coo-coo (plural coo-coos)
- The two-note vocalisation made by the male of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), or imitation of this by a cuckoo clock.
- The clocks lining the dream hallway in her mind taunted her with their twisting hands, their broken faces, and some of them, with a cringe-worthy coo-coo, coo-coo squall.2014, Norah Wilson, Heather Doherty, Forever the Night
- The repeated vocalisation of various other birds, such as doves.
- From the fishing basket on which he was sitting came the unusual sound of a ‘coo-coo,’ and another spy was caught. The supposed fisherman had been sending the enemy information by means of the carrier pigeons.1914 December 11, The Albury Banner and Wodonga Express, NSW, page 35, column 4
- A loving or affectionate murmuration.
- "Cut it short, sis, cut it short," he would growl at her if she started to murmur sweet "coo-coos" to her affinity stationed on the other end of the wire.1916 August, The Electrical Experimenter, New York, page 248, column 3
- A cuckoo.
Noun (2)
coo-coo (uncountable)
- A dish made from mashed okra and cornmeal.
- They steal to the huts, where the women are pounding in mortars the coos-coos, or corn, watch till the pounders are gone for sieves to searce the meal, and then slily creep to the mortars, take out the meal, and carry it off in their pangs, looking every moment behind them, to see if they are...1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 496
coo-coo meaning in Vietnamese
coo-coo in Vietnamese
- sound made by the cuckoo
- cu cu
Forms of coo-coo
| plural | coo-coos |
|---|---|
| alternative form | coocoo |
| alternative form | coocoos |
| alternative form | coos-coos |
| alternative form | cou-cou |
Origin of coo-coo
Imitative of the bird's song.
Ulitmately from various west African languages, as Yoruba kuuku (“corn dumpling”) and Akan kukú.
Phrases with coo-coo
Questions about coo-coo
- What does coo-coo mean?
- Coo-coo means the two-note vocalisation made by the male of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), or imitation of this by a cuckoo clock.
- What is coo-coo in Vietnamese?
- Coo-coo in Vietnamese is cu cu. See Coo-coo meaning in Vietnamese.
- What part of speech is coo-coo?
- Coo-coo is a noun.
- How do you pronounce coo-coo?
- Coo-coo is pronounced /ˈkuku/.
- What is the plural of coo-coo?
- The plural of coo-coo is coo-coos.
Words near coo-coo in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: coo-coo (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “coo-coo.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/coo-coo. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.