boo-boo
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
- Possibly from bug-a-boo, an imaginary evil goblin.
- Possibly from bubo, a swollen lymph node especially obvious in sufferers of bubonic plague.
- Possibly from the sound a baby or young toddler might make.
- Possibly borrowed from French bobo (“boo-boo”)
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "Canada" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈbuːˌbuː/
Audio (US): (file)
Noun
boo-boo (countable and uncountable, plural boo-boos)
- (countable, colloquial, often childish) A mistake or error.
- (countable, colloquial, childish, by or to young children) A minor injury, such as a cut or a bruise.
- (uncountable, colloquial, childish, by or to young children) Feces.
Verb
Lua error in Module:en-headword at line 1107: Legacy parameter 1=STEM no longer supported, just use 'en-verb' without params
- (colloquial, childish, by or to young children) To defecate.
Usage notes
Sometimes used sarcastically regarding overreaction to a very minor injury, as in "Aw, did the little boy get a boo-boo?"
Synonyms
- (error): blooper, blunder, faux pas, fluff, gaffe, lapse, slip, stumble, thinko
- (minor injury): owie, scrape, bruise, nick, scratch
- (void one’s bowels): (slang) crap, (obsolete) drite, (slang) dump, (informal) pinch a loaf, (informal, humorous) drop a bomb, (informal, humorous) drop the kids off at the pool, (vulgar) shit, (vulgar) shite, (vulgar) take a shit, (slang) take a dump, (informal) drop a deuce
Related terms
Translations
A minor injury
See also
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from French
- English terms derived from French
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English multiword terms
- English colloquialisms
- English childish terms
- English reduplicated coordinated pairs