English edit

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

Inherited from Middle English o.

Interjection edit

oh

  1. Expression of surprise.
    Oh! I didn't see you there.
  2. Expression of wonder, amazement, or awe.
    Oh, wow! That's amazing.
  3. Expression of understanding, affirmation, recognition, or realization.
    Oh, so that's how it works.
  4. A word to precede an offhand or annoyed remark.
    Oh, leave me alone.
  5. A word to precede an added comment or afterthought.
    Oh, and don't forget your coat.
  6. An invocation or address (similar to the vocative in languages with noun declension), often with a term of endearment.
    Oh, gosh
    • 1998, Max Martin, ...Baby One More Time (song performed by Britney Spears)
      Oh baby, baby, how was I supposed to know / That something wasn't right here?
  7. Exclamation for drama or emphasis (often poetic).
    Oh, when will it end?
    • 1703, Lawrence Smith, The Evidence of Things Not Seen, page 143:
      And oh how stingingly acute, and pungently grievous and tormentive, are the remembrancing Reflections of a separate uncloathed Soul in the other World, upon a review of its mad Choice, foolish Hopes, fruitless Desires []
    • 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World [], London: [] William Stansby for Walter Burre, [], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):
      Oh, by what plots, by what forswearings, betrayings, oppressions, imprisonments, tortures, poisonings, and under what reasons of state and politic subtilty, have these forenamed kings [] pulled the vengeance of God upon themselves []
  8. Expression of pain. See ouch.
    Oh! That hurt.
    • 1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: [] G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] [], →OCLC:
      "Oh! . . . oh! . . . I can't bear it . . . It is too much . . . I die . . . I am going . . ." were Polly's expressions of extasy
  9. Space filler or extra syllable, especially in (popular) music.
    • 1968, MacKinlay Kantor, Beauty Beast:
      I'm off with the raggle-taggle gypsy-oh.
  10. (interrogative) Expression of mild scepticism.
    "You should watch where you're going!" "Oh?"
  11. A word to mark a spoken phrase as imaginary.
    What if he says "Oh, I need to see your ID"?
Alternative forms edit

Particularly in the context of Internet conversations, "oh" is sometimes written with additional Os or Hs - for example, ohhh. See also ooh.

Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit

Noun edit

oh (plural ohs)

  1. An utterance of oh; a spoken expression of surprise, acknowledgement, etc.
    • 2011, Seabert Parsons, The Lost Codex of Palenque, page 240:
      There were ohs and ahs, and the people twisted about as they looked for her. Then they began to applaud.

Verb edit

oh (third-person singular simple present ohs, present participle ohing, simple past and past participle ohed)

  1. (intransitive) To utter the interjection oh; to express surprise, etc.
    • 1852, Merry's museum and Parley's magazine, volumes 23-24, page 46:
      A quarter of an hour elapsed, and then, after several rings at the door-bell, a smothered laugh, and a good deal of ohing and ahing, the door was thrown open, and one by one, as they were announced, in came the expected characters.

Etymology 2 edit

From Middle English o, oo, from Old English ō, from Latin ō.

Noun edit

oh (plural ohs)

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter O.
    • 2006, Ben Bova, Titan, page 33:
      One genuine recycled local glass of aitch-two-oh
    • 2011, Shallon Lester, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
      Exes and Ohs: A Downtown Girl's (Mostly Awkward) Tales of Love, Lust, Revenge, and a Little Facebook Stalking
Alternative forms edit
  • o (more common)
Derived terms edit

Etymology 3 edit

  This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!
Particularly: “digit 0 sense”

From o (zero).

Noun edit

oh (plural ohs)

  1. the digit 0 (especially in representations of speech)
    My telephone number is four-double-three-two-oh-nine.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit

Anagrams edit

Bahnar edit

Etymology edit

From Proto-Bahnaric *ʔɔh.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

oh

  1. younger sibling

Dutch edit

Pronunciation edit

Interjection edit

oh

  1. oh

Finnish edit

Noun edit

oh

  1. (housing) Abbreviation of olohuone (living room).

Further reading edit

French edit

Etymology edit

Onomatopoeic; compare Latin ō.

Pronunciation edit

Interjection edit

oh

  1. oh

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

Galician edit

Pronunciation edit

Interjection edit

oh

  1. oh (expression of surprise, etc.)
    Synonym: ó

References edit

  • oh” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
  • oh” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
  • oh” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

German edit

Pronunciation edit

Interjection edit

oh

  1. oh

Hokkien edit

For pronunciation and definitions of oh – see (“evil; wicked; foul; fierce; hostile; ferocious; etc.”).
(This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of ).

Hungarian edit

Pronunciation edit

Interjection edit

oh

  1. oh!

Ingrian edit

Pronunciation edit

Interjection edit

oh

  1. Expression of surprise: oh!

Derived terms edit

References edit

  • Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 359

Juǀ'hoan edit

Pronunciation edit

Letter edit

oh (upper case Oh)

  1. A letter of the Juǀ'hoan alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Latin edit

Interjection edit

ōh!

  1. oh! ah!
    Synonym: ō!

Pohnpeian edit

Conjunction edit

oh

  1. and

Portuguese edit

Pronunciation edit

  • Hyphenation: oh

Interjection edit

oh

  1. Alternative form of ó

Romanian edit

Interjection edit

oh

  1. Alternative form of of

Spanish edit

Pronunciation edit

Interjection edit

oh

  1. oh (expression of awe, surprise, pain or realization)

Related terms edit

Further reading edit

Tagalog edit

Particle edit

oh (Baybayin spelling )

  1. Alternative spelling of o

Interjection edit

oh (Baybayin spelling )

  1. Alternative spelling of o

Zaghawa edit

Noun edit

oh

  1. milk

References edit

Beria-English English-Beria Dictionary [provisional] ADESK, Iriba, Kobe Department, Chad