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Glite Dictionary
📣 A greeting call 🛳️ A sailor's greeting 🗣️ To call out
to ahoy

to ahoy

9.4
To shout to a ship or person to get their attention at sea
  • verb
  • /əˈhɔɪ/
translation icon : gritar
  • The sailor shouted ahoy to the passing ship in the distance.

Examples

  • As we approached the harbor, I called out ahoy to signal our arrival.

  • To get his friend's attention on the boat, he decided to ahoy loudly.

  • I might try to ahoy it if possible.

  • I ahoy there!

    Horror Island (1941)

Synonyms

to holla at
vsto ahoy
  • US
1 9.9

Shout or call to get someone's attention

is used mainly to hail ships at sea rather than informal calls
to hollo
vsto ahoy
  • Archaic
9.9

To call out loudly to get attention or greet someone

is used specifically to hail at sea rather than generally
to hallo
vsto ahoy
  • UK
4.9

To call out loudly to get someone's attention from a distance

is used to hail at sea rather than for distant land calls

Surface Forms

ahoy infinitive
ahoyed past
ahoyed past participle
ahoying present participle
ahoys third person singular

Etymology

Ahoy used as a verb comes from the sailors' shout hoi, so to ahoy someone is to shout 'ahoy' to get their attention. So when sailors ahoied a ship, they were simply calling out to it.