wahoo

/ˌˈwɑˌˈhu/

Other forms: wahoos

A wahoo is a type of tree or shrub, as well as the name of a fast-moving tropical fish. It's also an expression of excitement: "Wahoo, we won the three-legged race!"

In North America, it's common to use wahoo interchangeably with "yahoo" or "hooray," so you might jump around and yell, "Wahoo!" when your team wins the Super Bowl. The original meaning of this word is "burning bush," a North American shrub. The word is a distorted translation of the Dakota wahu, "wooden arrow." Experts aren't sure why the fish came to be called a wahoo around 1880.

Definitions of wahoo

1. noun

   deciduous shrub having purple capsules enclosing scarlet seeds
   synonyms: Euonymus atropurpureus, burning bush

   type of:

   bush, shrub

   a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems
2. noun

   upright deciduous plant with crimson pods and seeds; the eastern United States from New York to Florida and Texas
   synonyms: Euonymus americanus, strawberry bush

   type of:

   bush, shrub

   a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems
3. noun

   large fast-moving predacious food and game fish; found worldwide
   synonyms: Acanthocybium solandri

   type of:

   mackerel

   any of various fishes of the family Scombridae