bow-wow

See also: bowwow and bow wow

English

Alternative forms

• bow wow

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

bow-wow

1. Representing the sound of a dog barking.
   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 5, column 1:

     Harke, harke, bowgh wawgh: the watch-Dogges barke, bowgh-wawgh.

   • 1593, Gabriel Harvey, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse, London: […] Iohn Wolfe, →OCLC; republished as John Payne Collier, editor, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A Preparative to Certaine Larger Discourses, Intituled Nashes S. Fame (Miscellaneous Tracts. Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I; no. 8), [London: [s.n.], 1870], →OCLC, page 181:

     She […] hath ſtiled him with an immortall penne, the bawewawe of ſchollars, the tutt of gentlemen, the tee-heegh of gentlewomen, the phy of citizens, the blurt of Courtiers, the poogh of good letters, the faph of good manners, and the whoop-hooe of good boyes in London ſtreetes.

Translations

sound of a dog barking

• Catalan: bub-bub (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 汪汪 (zh) (wāngwāng)

• Danish: vov-vov, vov (da)
• Esperanto: boj (eo)
• Finnish: hau (fi), hau hau, vuh
• French: mouarf, ouah ouah
• German: wau wau
• Greek: γαβ (el) (gav)
• Hungarian: vau-vau (hu)
• Italian: bau bau
• Japanese: ワンワン (wanwan)
• Kazakh: арс-арс (ars-ars), арс-ұрс (ars-ūrs)
• Khmer: វ៉េសវ៉ូស (km) (veeh)
• Korean: 멍멍 (ko) (meongmeong)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Malay: gonggong (ms), kung-kung
• Mongolian: хав хав (xav xav)
• Polish: hau (pl)
• Portuguese: au-au (pt)
• Romanian: ham-ham
• Russian: гав-гав (gav-gav)
• Spanish: guau guau
• Swedish: vov vov, voff voff, voff (sv), vov (sv)
• Telugu: భౌ భౌ (bhau bhau)
• Thai: โฮ่ง โฮ่ง (hôong hôong)
• Turkish: hav hav
• Vietnamese: gâu gâu (vi), ẳng ẳng, ăng ẳng (vi)

Noun

bow-wow (plural bow-wows)

1. The sound of a dog barking.
   • 1864, Bessie Rayner Parkes, “Fontainebleau”, in Good Words‎^[1], volume 5, page 224:

     […] a chorus of quadruped, white and brown,
     Bark’d affirmative, “gone to town,”
     With affable bursts of French bow-wow;
     (As part of the family they knew how!)

   • 1911, Zane Grey, chapter 6, in The Young Lion Hunter‎^[2], New York: Grosset & Dunlap, page 63:

     We neared a hollow where Prince barked eagerly. Curley answered, and likewise Queen. Mux’s short, angry bow-wow showed that he was in line.

2. (humorous or childish) A dog.
   • 1902, Theodore Roosevelt, letter to Kermit Roosevelt dated 13 October, 1902, in Joseph Bucklin Bishop (editor), Theodore Roosevelt’s Letters to His Children, New York: Scribner, 1919, p. 36,^[3]

     Gem is really a very nice small bow-wow, but Mother found that in this case possession was less attractive than pursuit.

   • 1953, Ogden Nash, “The Pushover”, in You Can’t Get There From Here‎^[4], Boston: Little, Brown & Co., page 56:

     My grandchild, who, when walking, wobbles,
     Calls dogs Bow-wows, and turkeys, Gobbles.
     Today I called a cow Moo-moo;
     She’s got me talking that way too.

Coordinate terms

• (sound of a dog): arf, bark, growl, grr, howl, ruff, snarl, whimper, whine, woof, woof-woof, yap, yelp, yip

Derived terms

• bow-wow theory
• go to the bow-wows

See also

• Bark (utterance) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• yap and yip
• bark
• growl
• howl
• snarl
• whimper
• whine
• woof
• yelp

Adjective

bow-wow (not comparable)

1. (dated, informal, of language) Grandiose.
   • 1785, James Boswell, The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides‎^[5], London: Charles Dilly, page 8:

     Lord Pembroke said once to me at Wilton, with a happy pleasantry, and some truth, that “Dr. Johnson’s sayings would not appear so extraordinary were it not for his bow-wow way;” but I admit the truth of this only on some occasions.

   • 1826, Walter Scott, Diary entry for 14 March, 1826, in The Complete Works of Sir Walter Scott; with a Biography, New York: Conner & Cooke, 1833, Volume 7, Chapter 68, p. 475,^[6]

     Miss Austen […] had a talent for describing the involvements, and feelings, and characters of ordinary life, which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with. The Big Bow-wow strain I can do myself like any now going; but the exquisite touch, which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting, from the truth of the description and the sentiment, is denied to me.