coo
part of speech
verb (coo, coos, cooed, cooing); noun (a coo, coos); interjection (Coo! — UK, old-fashioned)
meaning for a pupil
1) (verb) For a pigeon or dove to make its soft, low, round sound. tree →
2) (verb) To speak softly and lovingly, as people do to babies: «She cooed over the baby.» tree →
3) (noun) The soft sound a dove makes, or a baby's happy sound. tree →
4) (UK, old-fashioned, informal) «Coo!» — an exclamation of surprise, like «Wow!» tree →
sense in the lessons
In nature lessons, pigeons and doves coo; babies coo before they learn to talk. In stories, adults «coo over» babies, puppies and kittens, showing tenderness. Phrases: «coo over», «bill and coo» (old-fashioned: for lovers to kiss and whisper).
examples
- The pigeons cooed on the roof all morning. tree →
- The baby cooed and kicked her legs. tree →
- Aunt Sally cooed over the new kittens. tree →
- We heard the soft coo of a dove in the garden. tree →
- "Who's a lovely boy?" cooed Nan to the puppy. tree →
- Coo, look at the size of that cake! tree →
- The doves were cooing in the church tower. tree →
- She looked round and cooed: “How thoughtful of you. tree →
note
Regular verb: cooed, cooing. Sounds like «coup» (a sudden seizure of power — the P is silent) — a homophone. Do not mix up with «cue». Animal sounds: doves coo, owls hoot, crows caw.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «coo» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.