bo

alternative boh · alternative boo

1. An exclamation used to startle or frighten.

   We may fairely cry bo-bo-boe; it may well make us hoarse, but it will nothing advaunce it.

   1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 37, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC

plural bos

1. USslangFellow, chap, boy.

   ‘Never heard of him,’ he smiled. ‘On your way, bo.’

   1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin, published 2010, →ISBN, page 255

plural bos

1. governmentA quarterstaff, especially in an oriental context.

1. SingaporeSinglishinterrogativeFinal interrogative particle, used to invite agreement.

   Swee bo?

   Good, right?

   Synonyms: hor?

2. SingaporeSinglishinterrogativeFinal interrogative particle, forming a yes-no question from a declarative statement.

   Synonyms: or not

1. SingaporeabbreviationinitialismInitialism of best of: Often directly precedes an odd number.

   Best-of-three (bo3) Group Stage Match Information

1. A male given name of occasional usage since the 1970s.
   1. A male given name from the Germanic languages
   2. A diminutive of the male given name Beauregard
   3. A diminutive of the male given name Beaumont

1. A city in Sierra Leone.
2. A district (Bo District) in Southern Province, Sierra Leone. Capital: Bo.

1. Synonym of Bomu (“Gur language”).

   Synonyms: Bomu

plural BOs

1. abbreviationeuphemisticinformalinitialismuncountableInitialism of body odor or body odour.

   Wives chucked too, and slyly called their husbands' attention to such jingles as: “He played / A sax / Had no B.O. / But his whiskers scratched / So she let him go.”

   1964, Hannah Campbell, “Burma-Shave”, in Why did they name it…?, Fleet Publishing Corporation, page 161

2. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablecomputingInitialism of business object.

   A business object (BO) is simply a software abstraction of a real-world entity.

   2004, Chuck Cavaness, Programming Jakarta Struts, O'Reilly, →ISBN, page 139

3. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableentertainmentInitialism of box office.

   The film is expected to gross more than $100 million at the domestic BO.

4. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of bronchiolitis obliterans.

1. abbreviationhistoricalinitialismbusinessInitialism of BusinessObjects, a French enterprise software company specializing in business intelligence.

1. abbreviationinitialismbusinessInitialism of bind off.