Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Australia, informal, onomatopoeia A long, loud call used to attract attention when at a distance, mainly done in the Australian bush.
- noun Australia, informal A short distance; hailing distance.
- verb intransitive, Australia, informal To make such a call.
- interjection informal Used to attract someone's attention.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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If you have a Borders bookshop within cooee of you (as I do, yay) you can donate good quality second-hand books to them.
More Bushfire help karenmiller 2009
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If you were ever within cooee of Zucker, I bet you did
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If you’re within cooee of the S. E, I’d be delighted to shout you a brew, Mayhem!
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The warning had scarcely been given by the leader, whose two companions reloaded their fire-arms, when they heard a shrill cry of a peculiar kind, which is in the Colony called a cooee, and which is chiefly used by parties in the bush to denote their positions or make known their desire of help, guidance, etc. The bushrangers halted and listened attentively; the cry was two or three times repeated, apparently by the same voice.
Ralph Rashleigh 2004
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Presently there sounded upon the morning air the clear "cooee" of the range, particularly well known to every cowboy who had worked at Circle
The Saddle Boys in the Grand Canyon or The Hermit of the Cave James Carson
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And presently after I heard from afar his high, melancholy "cooee," and the crack of his thong in the afternoon air as he hastened out to his charges.
Henry Brocken His Travels and Adventures in the Rich, Strange, Scarce-Imaginable Regions of Romance Walter De la Mare 1914
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Anxious to escape thoughts so little comprehended, King hurried on, and essayed a feeble 'cooee' when a few yards from the sleeper.
The Red True Story Book Andrew Lang 1900
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Australian "cooee," following it up with a shrill piercing note from a little silver whistle; but the only response was the cry of an _ara_, one of the great scarlet and blue long-tailed macaws, whose harsh shriek came softened from the distance.
Rob Harlow's Adventures A Story of the Grand Chaco George Manville Fenn 1870
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"cooee" of the returning warriors; and then caught the bark of the fox, that told them that Paul and his posse had returned.
The Banner Boy Scouts Afloat or, the Secret of Cedar Island George A. Warren
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Simply put, I won't let a simple doctor within cooee of me with a needle, but I can let Pathologists and anesthetists do it - if stretched, a registered nurse.
Trypanophobia: Needle Phobia, fencing and my blood work Elizabeth McClung 2007
frindley commented on the word cooee
Being "within cooee" of something – being within calling distance, close.
April 10, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word cooee
I forgot all about cooee. Oh, I'm going to use this a lot. :)
April 10, 2008