See Also:

oh(1) (iou)



oh interjection, noun2, & verb. M16.
[Var. of O interjection, infl. by French, Latin oh. Cf. AH interjection, OH-OH.]
A. interjection. Expr. surprise, pain, frustration, entreaty, disappointment, sorrow, relief, hesitation, disdain, doubt, etc. (freq. with other interjections, as oh damn!, oh my!, oh no!, oh well!, etc). Also (poet. & rhet.), (a) preceding a vocative in address and apostrophe, (b) introducing an emphatic statement or declaration, (c) expr. a wish for a thing or that a thing might be the case. M16.
ALIVE oh. oh be joyful: see JOYFUL adjective 1. oh boy!: see BOY noun 5. oh dear!: see DEAR interjection. oh well expr. resignation. oh yeah (colloq., orig. US) expr. incredulity, disbelief, or scepticism, freq. prefacing a contradiction.
Bible (Coverdale): Psalms 6:4 Oh saue me, for thy mercies sake. W. Cowper Oh! for a closer walk with God. J. Buchan Oh, God be thanked, it's our friends. B. Pym Oh, rubbish! I never heard such far-fetched excuses. C. Ekwensi 'Oh! ' she exclaimed suddenly. 'I nearly sat on this!'
b. noun. An utterance of 'oh'. M16.
Southey With throbs and throes, and ahs and ohs.
C. verb intrans. Say 'oh'. M19.
R. Bradbury The audience ohed and ahed as the captain talked.