bazoo

English

Etymology

Probably from Dutch bazuin (“trumpet”). First attested in the mid 19th c..

Pronunciation

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Noun

bazoo (plural bazoos)

1. (Canada, US, dated) A simple wind instrument, such as a kazoo or tin horn.
   • 1894, “Splendid work of the National Association of Dental Faculties”, in Dominion Dental Journal‎^[1], volume VI, page 221:

     It goes against the grain to toot one’s own “bazoo”

   • 2012, Sharon Davis, Every Chart Topper Tells a Story‎^[2]:

     Born Charles Westover in Coopersville, Michigan, on 30 December 1939, he learned to play the bazoo, ukulele and, eventually, the guitar.

   • 2017 May 1, Peter Jensen Brown, quoting Leavenworth Weekly Times, July 21, 1870, “Bazoo, Kazoo, Bazooka”, in Early Sports and Pop Culture History Blog‎^[3]:

     The bully girl with a crystal optic and tin horn was at the jollification. She “tooted her bazoo” in concert with Hon. Nelson’s horn, and wanted “White husbands or none.”

2. (US, slang) A person's mouth.
   • 1881, Paul the Pilgrim, “A Wyoming Wedding”, in Wit and Wisdom‎^[4], page 12:

     If any galoot in the mob knows of anything that mout block the game ef tuk to a higher court, let him now toot his bazoo, or else keep his jaw to himself now and forever more.

   • 1902, Francis Lynde, The Master of Appleby, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, page 504:

     "As for the screechin', one bazoo's as good as a dozen, if so be ye blow it fierce enough."

   • 2013, Charles Earle Funk, Thereby Hangs a Tale‎^[5]:

     No doubt you have heard the expression, “He blows his bazoo too much.” In Arkansas that is said of a “windy” guy who talks too much.

Derived terms

• bazooka

Anagrams

• booza