oh

Expression of surprise.

Interjection

  1. Expression of surprise.
    • Oh! I didn't see you there.
  2. Expression of wonder, amazement, or awe.
    • Oh, wow! That's amazing.
  3. Expression of understanding, affirmation, recognition, or realization.
    • Oh, so that's how it works.
  4. A word to precede an annoyed remark.
    • Oh, leave me alone.
  5. A word to precede an added or offhand comment or afterthought.
    • Oh, and don't forget your coat.
    • What if he says, "Oh, I need to see your ID"?
  6. An invocation or address (similar to the vocative in languages with noun declension), often with a term of endearment.
    • Oh, gosh.
    • Oh baby, baby, how was I supposed to know / That something wasn't right here? - 1998, Max Martin, ...Baby One More Time (song performed by Britney Spears)
  7. Exclamation for drama or emphasis.
    • Oh, when will it end?
    • Oh by what plots, by what forſwearings, betrayings, oppreſsions, impriſonments, tortures, poyſonings, and vnder what reaſons of State, and politique ſubteltie, haue theſe forenamed Kings, […] pulled the vengeance of GOD...
    • And oh how stingingly acute, and pungently grievous and tormentive, are the remembrancing Reflections of a separate uncloathed Soul in the other World, upon a review of its mad Choice, foolish Hopes, fruitless Desires...
  8. Expression of pain. See ouch.
    • Oh! That hurt.
    • "Oh! Oh!——I can't bear it————It is too much.——I die.—————I am going——" were Polly's expreſſions of extaſy: […] - 1749, [John Cleland], “[Letter the First]”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], volume I,...
  9. Space filler or extra syllable, especially in (popular) music.
    • I'm off with the raggle-taggle gypsy-oh. - 1968, MacKinlay Kantor, Beauty Beast:
  10. Expression of mild scepticism.
    • "You should watch where you're going!" "Oh?"

Origin

Etymology tree Middle English o English oh Inherited from Middle English o.

Related

ah o O ooh uh-oh

Derived

oh ar oh boy oh dear oh girl oh God oh gods oh hell oh joy oh man oh me of little faith oh me oh my oh my oh my Allah oh my days oh my fuck oh my God oh my Goddess oh my gods oh my goodness oh my goodness gracious ohmygosh oh my gosh oh my heck oh my hell

Noun Entry 2

  1. An utterance of oh; a spoken expression of surprise, acknowledgement, etc.
    • There were ohs and ahs, and the people twisted about as they looked for her. Then they began to applaud. - 2011, Seabert Parsons, The Lost Codex of Palenque, page 240:

Forms

ohs

Noun Entry 3

  1. The name of the Latin script letter O/o.
    • One genuine recycled local glass of aitch-two-oh - 2006, Ben Bova, Titan, page 33:
    • Exes and Ohs: A Downtown Girl's (Mostly Awkward) Tales of Love, Lust, Revenge, and a Little Facebook Stalking - 2011, Shallon Lester, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

Origin

From Middle English o, oo, from Old English ō, from Latin ō.

Forms

ohs o

Derived

Oh Em Gee oh em gee oh-em-gee oh zee oh-zee ohzee

Noun Entry 4

  1. The digit 0 (especially in representations of speech)
    • Jenny I've got your number. I need to make you mine. Jenny don't change your number. Eight six seven five three oh nine. Eight six seven five three oh nine. Eight six seven five three oh nine. Eight six seven five three...
    • "Oh-dark-thirty," the first soldier muttered without looking at his watch. - 2015, John Renehan, The Valley: A Novel, Penguin Publishing Group, →ISBN:

Origin

From o (“zero”), extended use of letter O name based on similar shape of the number 0.

Forms

ohs

Derived

four oh four oh dark hundred oh dark thirty oh-dark-thirty

Verb

  1. To utter the interjection oh; to express surprise, etc.
    • A quarter of an hour elapsed, and then, after several rings at the door-bell, a smothered laugh, and a good deal of ohing and ahing, the door was thrown open, and one by one, as they were announced, in came the expected...

Forms

ohs ohing ohed