hoot
part of speech
verb (hoot, hoots, hooted, hooting); noun (a hoot, hoots)
meaning for a pupil
1) (of an owl) To make its long oo sound. tree →
2) To sound a car horn (mainly UK, Australia). tree →
3) To laugh loudly, or to shout in mockery. tree →
4) (informal, noun) A hoot is something or someone very funny: the film was a hoot. tree →
5) (informal) Not give a hoot means not care at all. tree →
sense in the lessons
In nature lessons, owls hoot at night (the tawny owl's twit-twoo is two owls calling). In everyday life, drivers hoot to warn others. In stories, a funny character is a hoot. Phrases: hoot with laughter, not give a hoot, what a hoot.
examples
- An owl hooted in the dark woods. tree →
- The driver hooted at the cyclist. tree →
- We hooted with laughter at the clown. tree →
- The school play was an absolute hoot. tree →
- He doesn't give a hoot about football. tree →
- The train hooted as it came into the station. tree →
- They shouted and hooted with great glee. tree →
note
Regular verb: hooted. Hooter is old informal UK slang for a car horn or a nose. In the USA people usually say honk for car horns.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «hoot» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.