Hey
[hey] /heɪ/
interjection
1.
(used as an exclamation to call attention or to express pleasure, surprise, bewilderment, etc.)
2.
Informal. hello: used as a greeting.
/heɪ/
interjection
1.
an expression indicating surprise, dismay, discovery, etc, or calling for another’s attention
2.
(South African) an exclamation used for emphasis at the end of a statement, or alone to seek repetition or confirmation of another person’s statement
3.
hey presto, an exclamation used by conjurors to herald the climax of a trick
c.1200, variously, in Middle English, hei, hai, ai, he, heh, expressing challenge, rebuttal, anger, derision, sorrow, or concern; also a shout of encouragement to hunting dogs. Possibly a natural expression (cf. Roman eho, Greek eia, German hei).
Þa onswerede þe an swiðe prudeliche, `Hei! hwuch wis read of se icudd keiser!’ [“St. Katherine of Alexandria,” c.1200]
In Latin, hei was a cry of grief or fear; but heia, eia was an interjection denoting joy.
interjection
An exclamation used to underscore mildly what is said: Pennzoil has been arguing that, hey, they are reasonable people/ I tried explaining that, hey, basically a goose is just a big duck/ Hey, I’m only human
[1980s+; the use is attenuated from the ancient call for attention found by 1225]
Read Also:
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[hey-dey] /ˈheɪˌdeɪ/ noun 1. the stage or period of greatest vigor, strength, success, etc.; prime: the heyday of the vaudeville stars. 2. Archaic. high spirits. [hey-dey] /ˈheɪ deɪ/ interjection, Archaic. 1. (used as an exclamation of cheerfulness, surprise, wonder, etc.) /ˈheɪˌdeɪ/ noun 1. the time of most power, popularity, vigour, etc; prime n. late 16c., […]
- Heydey
[hey-dey] /ˈheɪˌdeɪ/ noun 1. the stage or period of greatest vigor, strength, success, etc.; prime: the heyday of the vaudeville stars. 2. Archaic. high spirits. /ˈheɪˌdeɪ/ noun 1. the time of most power, popularity, vigour, etc; prime n. late 16c., alteration of heyda (1520s), exclamation of playfulness or surprise, something like Modern English hurrah, apparently […]
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A nursery rhyme: Hey diddle diddle The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughed To see such sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon.
- Heyduck
[hahy-doo k] /ˈhaɪ dʊk/ noun 1. . [hahy-doo k] /ˈhaɪ dʊk/ noun 1. one of a class of mercenary soldiers in 16th-century Hungary. 2. an outlaw who engaged in brigandage and irregular warfare against the Turks in the Slavic regions of the Ottoman Empire. 3. a male servant or attendant dressed in semimilitary Hungarian costume. […]
- Heyerdahl
[hey-er-dahl] /ˈheɪ ərˌdɑl/ noun 1. Thor [too r] /tʊər/ (Show IPA), 1914–2002, Norwegian ethnologist and author. /Norwegian ˈhɛiərdaːl/ noun 1. Thor (tɔː). 1914–2002, Norwegian anthropologist. In 1947 he demonstrated that the Polynesians could originally have been migrants from South America, by sailing from Peru to the Pacific Islands of Tuamotu in the Kon-Tiki, a raft […]