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hullabaloo

noun

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L322118 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˌhʌləbəˈluː/ / /ˌhʌləbəˈlu/ / /ˈhʌləbəˌlu/

noun

Etymology: Possibly a rhyming reduplication of halloo (used as a greeting or to catch attention; used in hunting to urge on pursuers), hilloa, hullo (variants of “hello”), and similar words.

  1. A clamour, a commotion; a fuss or uproar.

    They made such a hullabaloo about the change that the authorities were forced to change it back.

    […]The truth of all this hullaballoo was that Rigby had a sly pension which, by an inevitable association of ideas, he always connected with the maintenance of an Aristocracy.

verb

Etymology: Possibly a rhyming reduplication of halloo (used as a greeting or to catch attention; used in hunting to urge on pursuers), hilloa, hullo (variants of “hello”), and similar words.

  1. To make a commotion or uproar.

    They roared, they danced, they hullaballoed, they pinched one another; they behaved like young savages – but I knew I had got them safe.

    "Nonsense, child," said my father, smiling. "Did you ever see a stone thrown into the pond? there's a great splash, and a few circles on the water, and that's about all, isn't it? Well, when I die there'll be a great splash of tears and hullaballooing, and a few circles of tender recollections, and then the surface will smooth itself over, and it'll be all right again."