bow-wow
See also: bowwow and bow wow
English
Alternative forms
- bow wow
Etymology
Onomatopoeic.
Interjection
bow-wow
- 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 606515358, [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 165778203; 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 23963073, 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.
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Translations
sound of a dog barking
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Noun
bow-wow (plural bow-wows)
- The sound of a dog barking.
- 1864, Bessie Rayner Parkes, “Fontainebleau” in Good Words, Volume 5, p. 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, The Young Lion Hunter, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, Chapter 6, p. 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.
- 1864, Bessie Rayner Parkes, “Fontainebleau” in Good Words, Volume 5, p. 224,
- (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,
- 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, Boston: Little, Brown & Co., p. 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.
- 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,
Coordinate terms
- (sound of a dog): arf, bark, growl, grr, howl, 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)
- (dated, informal, of language) Grandiose.
- 1785, James Boswell, The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, London: Charles Dilly, p. 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,
- 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.
- 1785, James Boswell, The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, London: Charles Dilly, p. 8,