Definitions For Whoa

Verb

{{en-verb}} (transitive) To attempt to slow (an animal) by crying "whoa".

Interjection

{{en-interj}} stop, stop (especially when commanding a horse or imitative thereof); calm down; slow down. : Whoa, Nelly! An expression of surprise. : Whoa, are you serious? {{n-g, Used as a meaningless filler in song lyrics.}}

Usage notes

An alternative spelling, woah (c. 1856), is common, but it is considered an error by some.

Antonyms

stop, said to a horse giddyup, giddap

Derived terms

whoa back

Translations

Arabic: قِف, m, قِفِي, f Catalan: xo Chinese: : Mandarin: 吁, tr=yū, sc=Hani Finnish: ptruu French: ho, holà, stop German: brr, oha Hindi: वाह Hungarian: hó Japanese: どう, tr=dō, sc=Jpan, どうどう (dōdō, sc=Jpan) Latin: ōhē Malay: hoi Norwegian: ptro Polish: prr Portuguese: alto!, ou! Russian: тпру, пру, стоп Spanish: so Swedish: ptrr German: langsam Hindi: वाह Malay: hoi Spanish: so Swedish: sakta i backarna Finnish: oho French: ouah German: boah, boa, oha, öha {{qualifier, dialectal}}, eha {{qualifier, dialectal}} Hindi: वाह Malay: hoi Maori: hika mā! Portuguese: nossa! Russian: ого Spanish: guau, híjole Swedish: oj då

Alternative forms

woah whoah

Etymology

Whoa (c. 1843) is a variant of woa (c. 1840), itself a variant of wo#etymology 1, wo (c. 1787), from who (c. 1450), ultimately from {{etyl, enm, en}} ho, hoo, , pos=interjection, probably from {{etyl, non, en}} hó!, pos=interjection, also, a shepherd's call. Compare {{cog, de, ho}}, {{cog, fro, ho !, , hold!, halt!}}.