Westward Ho!

proper noun

A seaside village in Northam parish near Bideford, Torridge district, Devon, England (OS grid ref SS4329).

“For quotations using this term, see Citations:Westward Ho!.”

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

proper noun
  1. A seaside village in Northam parish near Bideford, Torridge district, Devon, England (OS grid ref SS4329).

    For quotations using this term, see Citations:Westward Ho!.

Origin

Chosen as an unusual name to attract tourists, after Charles Kingsley's best-selling novel Westward Ho! (1855), which was set in nearby Bideford. The phrase itself comes from westward + ho (variant of hey), the call of Thames ferrymen indicating their proffered direction.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Westward Ho!. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Westward%20Ho%21

MLA

“Westward Ho!.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Westward%20Ho%21. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Westward Ho!,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Westward%20Ho%21.

Source: Westward Ho! on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.