Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A slight physical injury, such as a scratch.
- noun A stupid mistake; a blunder.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun an embarrassing mistake.
- noun a minor injury, such as an abrasion on the skin; -- child's talk.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun colloquial A
mistake orerror . - noun colloquial, childish, by or to young children A
minor injury , such as acut or abruise .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an embarrassing mistake
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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I had always thought that the word boo-boo originated as “bubo”—the infected, swollen lymph nodes that characterized bubonic plague.
The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time William Safire 2004
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I had always thought that the word boo-boo originated as “bubo”—the infected, swollen lymph nodes that characterized bubonic plague.
The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time William Safire 2004
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It's called The Concentrate but it could just as easily be called boo-boo magic.
Reaching Cult Status 2012
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Shorter what the GOP really means: “nanny-nanny boo-boo, stick your butt in poo-poo”!!
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Maybe for people whose knowledge of medicine doesn't extend any further than putting a bandaid on a boo-boo, this is a great show.
Complaining about TV, yet again. wendigomountain 2009
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(I kind of ran out of steam by “boo-boo”, sorry …)
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Either there's an editorial boo-boo in the second paragraph or I'm guessing someone really botched the Thanksgiving dinner at the White House! steve
Pres. Obama cheers on brother-in-law at basketball game 2009
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Shorter what the GOP really means: “nanny-nanny boo-boo, stick your butt in poo-poo”!!
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Messing up in the workplace is never a pleasant sensation, but the very worst kind of boo-boo is the silent-but-deadly variety: a dizzyingly serious error you realise you've committed long before anyone else.
Jonathan Franzen's Freedom has been pulped. MORE HEADLINE TO GO HERE Charlie Brooker 2010
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Still, it was great theater (watch here) and completely overshadowed the chin boo-boo suffered by Brett Favre.
Randy Moss feels the love for Bill Belichick and Patriots, not so much for Vikings Cindy Boren 2010
adoarns commented on the word boo-boo
an injury, esp. slight.
December 10, 2006
oroboros commented on the word boo-boo
also, a mistake, goof-up
December 14, 2006
rwhaddad commented on the word boo-boo
Also used as a term of endearment or nickname - primarily, but not exclusively, for babies/children.
July 6, 2009