cooee

English

Alternative forms

• cooey, coo-ee

Etymology

From Dharug guuu-wi adopted into English by white settlers in Australia from 1790.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ko͞o'(w)ē, IPA^(key): /ˈkuːʷiː/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

  In making the call, the first syllable may be quite elongated; the second is relatively short.

• Rhymes: -uːiː

Noun

cooee (plural cooees)

1. (Australia, informal, onomatopoeia) A long, loud call used to attract attention when at a distance, mainly done in the Australian bush.
   • 1943, H. Lorna Bingham, The Lost Tribe, Sydney: Winn and Co., page 32, column 1:

     Then they heard in the distance the "coo-ee" of a white man, which was instantly answered by another "coo-ee".

   • 2002, Andrew Parkin, A Thing Apart‎^[1], page 195:

     I call out, “Coo-ee” with long Coo and short ee like whip-bird call. Everybody in my mob know my cooee. Any one of my mob hear that, they give me cooee back.
     I listen.
     No cooee come back.

   • 2006, Saskia Beudel, Walking: West MacDonnell Ranges 2002, in Drusilla Modjeska, The Best Australian Essays 2006, page 309,

     Just as I was preparing to write in my exercise book, I heard a cooee. Cooees were not part of the code.

2. (Australia, informal, with "within", also figuratively) A short distance; hailing distance.
   • 1996, australian House of Representatives, Parliamentary Debates Australia‎^[2], volume 207, page 1469:

     That is not within cooee of 10 per cent; it is much closer to six per cent.

   • 1999, Tony Shillitoe, Joy Ride‎^[3], page 136:

     We were carless, in the dark, and no one to help within cooee.

Translations

a call as a signal

• Maori: hū, whakahoho

Verb

cooee (third-person singular simple present cooees, present participle cooeeing, simple past and past participle cooeed)

1. (intransitive, Australia, informal) To make such a call.
   • 2001, Robert Holden, Nicholas Holden, Bunyips: Australia's Folklore of Fear, page 65:

     ‘Look out for snakes,’ said Long Charlie, flourishing his lantern. ‘And don′t all of us be coo-eeing all the time, or when the little chap sings out we shan't be able to hear him.’

   • 2003, Les Hughes, A Young Australian Pioneer: Henry Mundy‎^[4], page 225:

     Slipping out of the tail of the dray, I cooeed as loud as I could which was answered.

   • 2006, Saskia Beudel, Walking: West MacDonnell Ranges 2002, in Drusilla Modjeska, The Best Australian Essays 2006, page 310,

     I cooeed back. Another cooee came in what seemed to be a reply. I cooeed again.

Translations

to call out as a signal

• Maori: hū, whakahoho

Interjection

cooee

1. (informal, chiefly Australia, UK) Used to attract someone's attention.

   Cooee! I'm over here!

   • 1894, Temple Bar, volume 183, page 587:

     Then, raising her hands to her lips she utters a long, loud, piercing " Cooee ! "
     " Coo — ee ! " comes back over the black waters.

   • 2001, June E. Barker, First Platypus, Gaygar—The Little Mother Duck, in Helen F. McKay (editor), Pauline E. McLeod, Francis Firebrace Jones, June E. Barker, Gadi Mirrabooka: Australian Aboriginal Tales from the Dreaming, page 58,

     Gaygar could hear her people cooee out to her, "COOEE, GAYGAR! COOEE, GAYGAR!" they would cry.

Synonyms

• ahoy! (nautical), hey!, oi! (impolite), yoohoo!; see also Thesaurus:hey