BOOBY

booby

(noun) small tropical gannet having a bright bill or bright feet or both

dumbbell, dummy, dope, boob, booby, pinhead

(noun) an ignorant or foolish person

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Noun

booby (plural boobies)

A stupid person.

Any of various large tropical seabirds from the genera Sula and Papasula in the gannet family Sulidae, traditionally considered to be stupid.

In the game of croquet, a ball that has not passed through the first wicket.

Synonyms

• (stupid person): fool

• (large tropical seabird): sulid

Verb

booby (third-person singular simple present boobies, present participle boobying, simple past and past participle boobied)

(rare, intransitive) To behave stupidly; to act like a booby.

(transitive) To install a booby trap on or at (something); to attack (someone) with a booby trap.

Etymology 2

Noun

booby (plural boobies)

(colloquial) A woman’s breast.

Synonym: Thesaurus:breast

Anagrams

• yobbo

Source: Wiktionary

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Boo"by, n.; pl. Boobies. Etym: [Sp. bobe dunce, idiot; cf. L. balbus stammering, E. barbarous.]

1. A dunce; a stupid fellow.

2. (Zoöl.) (a) A swimming bird (Sula fiber or S. sula) related to the common gannet, and found in the West Indies, nesting on the bare rocks. It is so called on account of its apparent stupidity. The name is also sometimes applied to other species of gannets; as, S. piscator, the red-footed booby. (b) A species of penguin of the antarctic seas.

Booby hatch (Naut.), a kind of wooden hood over a hatch, readily removable.

– Booby hut, a carriage body put upon sleigh runners. [Local, U. S.] Bartlett.

– Booby hutch, a clumsy covered carriage or seat, used in the eastern part of England. Forby.

– Booby trap, a schoolboy's practical joke, as a shower bath when a door is opened.

Boo"by, a.

Definition: Having the characteristics of a booby; stupid.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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