Word.ws English Dictionary

giving a hoot

giving a hoot is the present participle and gerund of give a hoot.

Meaning of give a hoot

Verb

give a hoot (third-person singular simple present gives a hoot, present participle giving a hoot, simple past gave a hoot, past participle given a hoot)

  1. (US, euphemistic, idiomatic, slang) To care about; to place value on something.
    • I don't care for a glorious name— / I wouldn't give a hoot for fame;1909 July, Wilberforce Jenkins, “A True Philosopher”, in Munsey's Magazine, volume 41, number 4, Light Verse, page 595
    Synonyms:
    becare, bother, care, concern oneself, heed, mind, reck, trouble oneself, worry

Questions about giving a hoot

What is giving a hoot the present participle and gerund of?
Giving a hoot is the present participle and gerund of give a hoot.

Words near giving a hoot in the dictionary

  1. giving a goddamn
  2. giving a good account of oneself
  3. giving a good damn
  4. giving a good goddamn
  5. giving a hang
  6. giving a hoot
  7. giving a knee
  8. giving a light
  9. giving a monkey's
  10. giving a rat's arse
  11. giving a rat's ass

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: giving a hoot (page history and authors); give a hoot (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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