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Glite Dictionary
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shoofly

shoofly

9.9
A small wooden rocking chair for a child shaped like a duck or swan
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : balancín
  • Her grandmother used to rock her to sleep in a wooden shoofly shaped like a duck.

Examples

  • The antique store displayed a beautiful shoofly that resembled a graceful swan.

  • The little girl loves her new shoofly chair.

  • Collectors prize the intricate animal carvings on old shooflies from the 19th century.

  • Can you see the shoofly in the corner?

  • Her grandmother used to rock her to sleep in a wooden shoofly shaped like a duck.

  • The antique store displayed a beautiful shoofly that resembled a graceful swan.

  • Collectors prize the intricate animal carvings on old shooflies from the 19th century.

Synonyms

rocker
vsshoofly
  • US
18 2.5

A chair that moves back and forth on curved legs

is a specific enclosed child's animal-sided seat toy rather than any rocking seat
hobby
vsshoofly
  • Baby Talk
4 9.9

A toy horse a child rocks while sitting and pretending to ride

sits between two flat animal-shaped sides instead of straddling for play
rocking horse
vsshoofly
3 1.3

A child's toy horse on curved rockers that moves when you sit on it

sits between two flat animal-shaped sides rather than astride
cockhorse
vsshoofly
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A thing that a child rides for play, like a toy rocking horse or a person's knee

is only the enclosed animal-sided child's seat toy, not a knee used in play

Compounds

shoofly pie
  • US
9.6

A sweet open pie that uses molasses and a crumb topping

Surface Forms

shoofly singular
shooflies plural

Morphology

shoofly = shoo + fly (opaque) = shoo + fly

The name for a child's rocking chair is conventional and not inferable from 'shoo' + 'fly'; the compound does not transparently describe this object.

Etymology

Shoofly for a child's rocking chair is easy to remember by picture: think of a small seat set between two carved animal sides that rock and gently 'shoo' the child back and forth. That gentle rocking or protecting idea helps explain why the toy got this name.