# cooee
## English
### Alternative forms

* cooey, coo-ee

### Etymology

From Dharug guuu-wi adopted into English by white settlers in Australia from 1790.

### Pronunciation

* enPR: ko͞o'(w)ē, IPA: /ˈkuːʷiː/
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
    In making the call, the first syllable may be quite elongated; the second is relatively short.
* Rhymes: -uːiː

### Noun

cooee (plural cooees)
* (Australia, informal, onomatopoeia) A long, loud call used to attract attention when at a distance, mainly done in the Australian bush.
** 1943, H. Lorna Bingham, The Lost Tribe, Sydney: Winn and Co., page 32, column 1:Then they heard in the distance the "coo-ee" of a white man, which was instantly answered by another "coo-ee".
** 2002, Andrew Parkin, A Thing Apart‎, page 195:I call out, “Coo-ee” with long Coo and short ee like whip-bird call. Everybody in my mob know my cooee. Any one of my mob hear that, they give me cooee back. I listen. No cooee come back.
** 2006, Saskia Beudel, Walking: West MacDonnell Ranges 2002, in Drusilla Modjeska, The Best Australian Essays 2006, page 309,
    Just as I was preparing to write in my exercise book, I heard a cooee. Cooees were not part of the code.
* (Australia, informal, with "within", also figuratively) A short distance; hailing distance.
** 1996, australian House of Representatives, Parliamentary Debates Australia‎, volume 207, page 1469:That is not within cooee of 10 per cent; it is much closer to six per cent.
** 1999, Tony Shillitoe, Joy Ride‎, page 136:We were carless, in the dark, and no one to help within cooee.

#### Translations
### Verb

cooee (third-person singular simple present cooees, present participle cooeeing, simple past and past participle cooeed)
* (intransitive, Australia, informal) To make such a call.
** 2001, Robert Holden, Nicholas Holden, Bunyips: Australia's Folklore of Fear, page 65:‘Look out for snakes,’ said Long Charlie, flourishing his lantern. ‘And don′t all of us be coo-eeing all the time, or when the little chap sings out we shan't be able to hear him.’
** 2003, Les Hughes, A Young Australian Pioneer: Henry Mundy‎, page 225:Slipping out of the tail of the dray, I cooeed as loud as I could which was answered.
** 2006, Saskia Beudel, Walking: West MacDonnell Ranges 2002, in Drusilla Modjeska, The Best Australian Essays 2006, page 310,
    I cooeed back. Another cooee came in what seemed to be a reply. I cooeed again.

#### Translations
### Interjection

cooee
* (informal, chiefly Australia, UK) Used to attract someone's attention.
    Cooee! I'm over here!
** 1894, Temple Bar, volume 183, page 587:Then, raising her hands to her lips she utters a long, loud, piercing " Cooee ! " " Coo — ee ! " comes back over the black waters.
** 2001, June E. Barker, First Platypus, Gaygar—The Little Mother Duck, in Helen F. McKay (editor), Pauline E. McLeod, Francis Firebrace Jones, June E. Barker, Gadi Mirrabooka: Australian Aboriginal Tales from the Dreaming, page 58,
    Gaygar could hear her people cooee out to her, "COOEE, GAYGAR! COOEE, GAYGAR!" they would cry.

#### Synonyms

* ahoy! (nautical), hey!, oi! (impolite), yoohoo!; see also Thesaurus:hey

### References

* ↑ R. M. W. Dixon, Australian Aboriginal Words, Oxford University Press, 1990, →ISBN, page 208.