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Glite Dictionary
🕊️ To chase away ✋ Go away!
to shoo

to shoo

35 7.0
To make a person or animal move away, for example by waving
  • verb
  • /ʃu/
  • Informal
translation icon : ahuyentar
  • The farmer had to shoo the chickens away from the freshly planted garden.
  • shoo away
  • shoo the fly

So I recommend that you're not killing them, you're just shooing them.

Examples

  • The maid wipes her hands on her apron and shoos the child toward the side yard, the laundry patio.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • For some reason, he always chose to join Retsler in shooing the gulls away.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • One wise guy is trying to shoo a cow away from his car.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Except for a guard who is approaching to shoo us toward the ongoing group.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Cow: Just keep your recipes to yourself and shoo those flies away.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • She would sometimes shoo the dogs away by being very persistent.

  • Singing can help shoo away troubling thoughts.

    Milarepa (2025)

  • "Get out of here," Martin said, shooing me away with the cigar.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • "OK now, you folks!" She waved her hand as if she were shooing away pesky gnats.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Bento claps his hands and shoos away the cat, disappointing Ezequiel.

    Academic text (1999)

Synonyms

to buzz off
vsto shoo
  • Offensive
12 8.4

To tell someone to go away right away in a rude or angry way

is a milder, often nonverbal urging using sounds or gestures
to shoo away
vsto shoo
5 4.1

To make people or animals go away by waving your hand

is a general urging to go away rather than forcing someone from one place
to sod off
vsto shoo
  • Offensive
3 9.9

Tell someone to go away in a rude way

is a softer urging with sounds or gestures rather than an aggressive command
to shoo off
vsto shoo
1 5.4

Make a person or animal go away with words and gestures

is a general urging to leave not limited to persons or animals

Antonyms

to invite
∞ 1.0

To ask someone politely to come or take part in an event

to welcome
583 1.0

Greet someone in a friendly way when they arrive

Phrasal Verbs

to shoo away
5 4.1

To make people or animals go away by waving your hand

to shoo off
1 5.4

Make a person or animal go away with words and gestures

Compounds

shoo-in
19 8.2

Someone or something certain to win easily

shoo fly
  • Specialized
9.9

A South American herb with blue and white flowers and a papery round fruit

How Forceful

to expel
194 5.0
to show the door
  • Informal
6 6.7
to drive away
71 3.4
to shoo
  • Informal
35 7.0
to wave off
  • Informal
2 5.9

Surface Forms

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

Etymology

Shoo is a very old word that copies the short sound people make to push animals or people away. Think of it like a quick 'shush' or 'hiss', so to shoo someone is to urge them to 'go away'.