ahoy

alternative a-hoy

1. nauticalUsed to hail a ship, a boat or a person, or to attract attention.

   While he was thus occupied, a voice, still more uncouth than the former, bawled aloud, ‘Ho! the house, a-hoy!’

   1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle

   2 more examples

   I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

   “(grunts) Frankie put glass in the piccata and the restaurant comped us, so we got all these chips. Let's hit the casino.” “All right.” “Come on, Nadia. Let's go watch this Rat Pack show with the girls.” “Did you say "the Rat Pack"?” “Yeah, they're good.” “They're here?” “Yeah, yeah, it's the Rat Pack.” “Chips ahoy!”

   2021 September 16, Sarah Naftalis, “The Casino” (6:53 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 3, episode 1, spoken by Laszlo Cravensworth (Matt Berry)

   Synonyms: oi

2. humorousWarning of something approaching or impending.

   Lawsuits, ahoy! […] Towns can regulate use of their beaches. But what about the waters offshore?

   1989, Forbes, volume 143, numbers 5-7, page 74

   1 more example

   Catalytic converters ahoy – Zeppelin's latest is one of those high-rev 3D driving games that simulates racing tracks from all over the world.

   1992, Championship Run (video game review) in Your Sinclair issue 75, page 61

present singular third person ahoys · participle present ahoying · participle past ahoyed · past ahoyed · alternative a-hoy

1. To hail with a cry of "ahoy".

plural ahoys · alternative a-hoy

1. An utterance of this interjection.

   There were many ahoys heard from the approaching ship.