cahoot
English
editEtymology
editFor the noun, see cahoots. The verb is derived from the noun.[1]
Pronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kəˈhuːt/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /kəˈhut/
- Rhymes: -uːt
- Hyphenation: ca‧hoot
Noun
editcahoot (plural cahoots) (originally US, uncommon)
- A company or partnership.
- Chiefly preceded by in: a group of people working together, chiefly for a nefarious reason; hence, a collaboration or collusion.
- Synonym: cahoots
- 1827 September 15, "The Wanderer", “Barney Blinn”, in Norwalk Reporter and Huron Advertiser[1], Norwalk, OH, page 4:
- Gineral Government and the ministration are going in cahoot to undermine and overrule the undertakings of the free people of Georgia.
- 1831 November 9, Natchez Gazette[2], Natchez, MS, page 3:
- Nay, we feel in so pleasant a humour, at the recovery of the stolen articles, that we are really disposed to extend our forgiveness to the whole "Cahoot," the more particularly, as some of the suspected, have already "suffered in the flesh;"—[…]
- An accomplice, a partner.
- 1869, United States Congress, Congressional Globe, page 538, column 3:
- Fisk and his “cahoots” have got at cross purposes, and he has been put out of bed. Whether Fisk is rightly or wrongly out of bed is not for Congress to determine.
Derived terms
editTranslations
editgroup of people working together, chiefly for a nefarious reason
Verb
editcahoot (third-person singular simple present cahoots, present participle cahooting, simple past and past participle cahooted)
- (intransitive) To act in partnership.
- 2003 June 6, “Thinking Right: Iraq, Clintons”, in Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
- […] argument that we shouldn't be doing it, and if we do we'll fail, and if we succeed, our leaders were lying, tricking and cahooting with Halliburton?
Translations
editto act in partnership
References
edit- ^ “cahoot, v.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2023.