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Glite Dictionary
to shoo off

to shoo off

1 5.4
Make a person or animal go away with words and gestures
  • phrasal verb
  • /ʃuː ɔf/
translation icon : ahuyentar
  • She went out to the barn, stared a hen in the eye, and shooed the red one off her nest.
  • try to shoo off

Examples

  • Why don't you shoo off now?

    Melody (1971)

  • PATRICK tries to shoo her off.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • "Want me to shoo him off?" George asked.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • "I kept wanting to turn back, but Dad shooed me off and I played with the other kids.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • "And why not?" she said one night as she drank down the last of her tea before shooing them off to bed.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • "Shoo off the rocs," she ordered.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • After May Anna finished her speech and everybody left, her press agent came up and tried to shoo us off, but May Anna gave him a hard look.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • "Aunt Hen shooed the poodle off her lap.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • The other citizens all stared at me, kind of impatient, and I had to get my say in quick before Chevelier could shoo me off.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • "The farmer shooed off the ducks that wandered into the garden."

Synonyms

to scare off
vsto shoo off
68 2.7

To make people or animals go away by frightening them

uses calls or gestures to urge leaving rather than causing strong fear
to scare away
vsto shoo off
47 2.5

Make a person or animal go away because they are afraid

relies on calls or gestures to get them to leave without intimidation
to shoo
vsto shoo off
  • Informal
35 7.0

To make a person or animal move away, for example by waving

is the same meaning but often includes an extra particle or word
to chase off
vsto shoo off
6 3.3

Make someone or something leave a place by running after and frightening them

uses short vocal command or gesture rather than physical pursuit or threats
to shoo away
vsto shoo off
5 4.1

To make people or animals go away by waving your hand

is the same action but often expressed as a brief spoken command
to frighten off
vsto shoo off
1 3.3

To make someone or something go away by making them afraid

drives people or animals out using calls or gestures instead of fear

Antonyms

to welcome
583 1.0

Greet someone in a friendly way when they arrive

to ask in
12 1.0

Invite someone to come into a room or house

How Forceful

to evict
77 4.6
to force out
46 4.4
to show the door
  • Informal
6 6.7
to drive off
87 4.0
to shoo off
1 5.4
to send away
43 3.0

Surface Forms

shoo off infinitive
shooed off past
shooed off past participle
shooing off present participle
shoos off third person singular

Morphology

shoo + off

The meaning 'to drive away' is directly and predictably composed from 'shoo' (to chase or repel) plus 'off' (away), so a learner who knows both words can infer the phrasal-verb sense. This verb+particle combination follows regular English compositional patterns (motion/away meaning) and is cross-linguistically transparent, making it immediately comprehensible at B1.

Etymology

The phrasal verb shoo off comes from the short shout shoo people used to make animals go away. The word off adds the idea of moving away, so shoo off means 'to drive away' someone or something.