whoop

whooping; whoops; whooped

A whoop is a noise you make when you're celebrating something exciting. Just listen to the whoops and cheers from the crowd when your school's basketball team unexpectedly wins the championship!

The joyful hooting of friends hearing your good news, the cheers of fans celebrating a bowler's strike, or the call of a cowboy urging a horse forward — these are all whoops. You can use this word as a verb too, as when you whoop with joy or laughter, or in the colloquial phrase whoop it up, meaning "have a blast." Whoop sometimes also used for the distinctive cough of someone suffering from pertussis, also known as whooping cough.

Definitions of whoop
  1. noun
    a loud hooting cry of exultation or excitement
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    type of:
    call, cry, outcry, shout, vociferation, yell
    a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
  2. verb
    shout, as if with joy or enthusiasm
    “The children whooped when they were led to the picnic table”
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    type of:
    call, cry, holler, hollo, scream, shout, shout out, squall, yell
    utter a sudden loud cry
  3. verb
    cough spasmodically
    synonyms: hack
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    type of:
    cough
    exhale abruptly, as when one has a chest cold or congestion
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘whoop'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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