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to aah

to aah

2 8.6
Make a long sound with your voice to show surprise or pleasure
  • verb
  • /ɑː/
  • Informal
translation icon : decir "¡ah!"
  • On Saturday morning, I drove Ellen to Portage Glacier, where she oohed and aahed about the blue color of the glacier ice.
  • oohed and aahed

Examples

  • They listened wide-eyed to his stories, oohing and aahing over the hero of Fort Ticonderoga and Saratoga.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • He took the bags from her, peered inside them, and oohed and aahed over her food choices.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • The more she bought, the more they oohed and aahed, and the better she felt as a result.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Everyone oohed and aahed at the presentations, especially mine.

    Blog text (5)
  • For others, their holiday tradition is oohing and aahing over the light display in a favorite city, botanic garden, zoo, or theme park.

    Blog text (17)
  • People stopped at my booth, oohed and aahed over my images, their hands filled with long strands of raffle tickets.

    Blog text (1)
  • The audience aahed in admiration as the magician performed his final trick.

  • She couldn't help but aah in delight when she saw the beautiful sunset.

  • As the baby took her first steps, the proud parents aahed with joy.

Synonyms

to ooh
vsto aah
  • Informal
5 9.1

To make a short sound that shows admiration or surprise

is a longer drawn-out sound showing surprise or strong pleasure
to ooooh
vsto aah
  • Informal
9.3

To make a long sound to show surprise or admiration

is a prolonged sound that often expresses milder pleasure or admiration

How Impressed

wow
  • Informal
1.0
ooh
  • Informal
7.2
to aah
  • Informal
2 8.6
ah
1.0
oh
1.0

Surface Forms

aah infinitive
aah'd past
aah'd past participle
aahing present participle
aahs third person singular

Etymology

The verb aah comes from people copying the long 'ah' sound we make when we admire or are surprised, the same sound you hear in ah or ooh. So to aah at something is to make that sound to show pleasure or wonder.