cooee

Noun

cooee (plural cooees)

1. (Australia, informal, onomatopoeic) A long, loud call used to attract attention when at a distance, mainly done in the Australian bush.
   • Then they heard in the distance the "coo-ee" of a white man, which was instantly answered by another "coo-ee".1943, H. Lorna Bingham, The Lost Tribe, Sydney: Winn and Co., page 32, column 1
   • I call out, “Coo-ee” with long Coo and short ee like whip-bird call. Everybody in my mob know my cooee. Any one of my mob hear that, they give me cooee back.
     I listen.
     No cooee come back.2002, Andrew Parkin, A Thing Apart, page 195
2. (Australia, also, figuratively, informal) A short distance; hailing distance.
   • That is not within cooee of 10 per cent; it is much closer to six per cent.1996, australian House of Representatives, Parliamentary Debates Australia, volume 207, page 1469
   • We were carless, in the dark, and no one to help within cooee.1999, Tony Shillitoe, Joy Ride, page 136

Verb

cooee (third-person singular simple present cooees, present participle cooeeing, simple past and past participle cooeed)

1. (Australia, informal, intransitive) To make such a call.
   • ‘Look out for snakes,’ said Long Charlie, flourishing his lantern. ‘And don′t all of us be coo-eeing all the time, or when the little chap sings out we shan't be able to hear him.’2001, Robert Holden, Nicholas Holden, Bunyips: Australia's Folklore of Fear, page 65
   • Slipping out of the tail of the dray, I cooeed as loud as I could which was answered.2003, Les Hughes, A Young Australian Pioneer: Henry Mundy, page 225

Interjection

1. (Australia, UK, informal) Used to attract someone's attention.
   • Cooee! I'm over here!
   • Then, raising her hands to her lips she utters a long, loud, piercing " Cooee ! "
     " Coo — ee ! " comes back over the black waters.1894, Temple Bar, volume 183, page 587

   Synonyms:

   ahoy!, hey!, oi!, yoohoo!

Proper noun capitalized: Cooee

Cooee

1. A town in Burnie City Council, north western Tasmania, Australia.