hee-hawn.
/ˈhiːˌhɔː/ 1. A conventional representation of the bray of a jackass; a name for this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > [noun] > equus asinus (ass) > sound made by
brayingc1440
bray1650
hee-haw1815
1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 84 (note) The chants were interrupted at intervals with an Hiu Haw, in imitation of the Ass's braying.
1832 S. Warren Passages from Diary of Late Physician I. xvi. 379 An Ass..opened on us with an astounding hee-haw! hee-haw! hee-haw!
1878 R. Browning Poets Croisic cxx To..estimate applause As just so many asinine he-haws.
1884 C. D. Warner in Harper's Mag. Dec. 14/2 He-hawn, sire Ass, you sing.
2. A loud unrefined laugh.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > types of laughter > [noun] > loud, coarse, or immoderate laughter > instance or outburst of
gawf?a1513
roar1675
horse-laugh1713
guffaw1720
ha ha1806
haw-haw1838
hee-haw1843
yaw-haw1912
1843 W. M. Thackeray Miss Tickletoby's Lect. iii If to laughter he was minded, out they burst in loud hee-haws.
1843 W. M. Thackeray Men's Wives in Fraser's Mag. 27 726/2 All the boxes began to roar with great coarse heehaws at Titania hugging Bottom's long ears.
Derivatives
hee-haw v. (intransitive) to bray, as an ass.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > [verb (intransitive)] > bray
bray1380
winx14..
hee-haw1821
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 44 Ass after ass still hee-haws through the town.
1832 S. Warren Passages from Diary of Late Physician I. xvi. 379 Away sprung the jackass..hee-hawing incessantly.
1858 W. M. Thackeray Virginians I. xix. 147 Suppose thou art making an ass of thyself,..are there not people in England who heehaw too?
1884 C. D. Warner in Harper's Mag. Dec. 14/2 The ass he-hawned, or brayed..The people he-hawned or brayed thrice, in like manner.
Draft additions March 2019
Scottish colloquial. [Apparently rhyming slang for damn aw (Scots variant of damn all n.) or some such word; compare bugger-all n., fuck-all n.] Nothing at all, absolutely nothing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [noun] > nothing > nothing at all
noughtOE
neither tip nor toe1610
nix1781
damn the haet1787
no nothing1815
zero1823
all1842
neither hide nor hair1857
zip1900
nixie1906
damn all1910
fuck-all1916
Fanny Adams1919
bugger-all1921
S.F.A.1933
not a sausage1938
shit1949
zilch1956
eff-all1958
sod all1958
diddly-squat1963
diddly1964
jack-all1965
niente1969
zippo1973
feck-all1975
hee-haw1975
naff all1977
jack squat1986
1975 J. McGrath Game's a Bogey 34 Taking over this wee run-doon knackered wee engineering shop here... Running it down..until it's reduced to hee-haw.
2000 C. Brookmyre Boiling Frog (2004) 133 His Eminence was going to tell the Monsignor precisely hee-haw.
2008 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) 28 Dec. (Mag.) 7/1 She knows hee-haw about style.
2017 @mriaintmorton 8 June in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) The faces on smug bastards when they get hee-haw on Antiques Roadshow for something they thought was worth a million quid.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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n.1815