wow

1. An indication of excitement, surprise, astonishment, or pleasure.

   Wow, I sure was surprised!

   1 more example

   Out on thir wanderand spiritis, wow! thow cryis.

   1513, Gavin Douglas, Virgil Æneid (translation) vi. Prol. 19

2. An expression of amazement, awe, or admiration.

   Wow! How do they do that?

3. Used sarcastically to express disapproval of something.

   Wow… good job using all of our supplies on the first day.

present singular third person wows · participle present wowing · participle past wowed · past wowed

1. informaltransitiveTo amaze or awe.

   He really wowed the audience.

   2 more examples

   If all of us can remember how great it felt to be wowed, why don't we make it a habit to do it more often for others? People remember you when you wow them, so to differentiate yourself with your clients and customers, think of doing something that would make them remember you.

   2015, Joe Sweeney, Mike Yorkey, Moving the Needle, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 200

   We have the worst of both worlds: the royal family gives us nothing, and we in turn legitimise it, give it meaning and audience and pay, through subsidies and tax exemptions, for its ability to wow us.

   2023 May 8, Nesrine Malik, “The coronation pulled a screen across a desperate, failing nation – just as intended”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

2. To wail; to cry mournfully.
   1. dialectalintransitiveOf a cat, to mew.
   2. dialectalintransitiveOf a dog, to howl.

plural wows

1. informalAnything exceptionally surprising, unbelievable, outstanding, etc.

   ‘And say, Jimmy, wait till you see me in my new outfit...It’s a wow, kid.’

   1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 144

   1 more example

   ‘Jesus suffering fuck,’ said Adrian. ‘It’s not half a thought.’ ‘Face it, it’s a wow.’

   1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 19

2. informalAn utterance of "wow".

   One woman took a seat nearer the front for a closer look at my maps. Several people exhaled loudly. I heard a wow now and then.

   2021 August 25, Jason King, The Climate Planner: Overcoming Pushback Against Local Mitigation and Adaptation Plans, Routledge, →ISBN

   1 more example

   On this trip, we talked with fellow cruisers about their travels and boats, and many were curious about the Beneteau Swift Trawler. Gow graciously gave tours, during which we heard many wows, oohs and aahs.

   2009 April, MotorBoating, page 43

plural wows

1. countableuncountableaudioA relatively slow form of flutter (pitch variation) which can affect both gramophone records and tape recorders.

   I often hear flutter and wows spoken of.

   1930, F.H. Richardson, “F.H. Richardson's Comments”, in Motion Picture Herald, volume 120, page 22

   1 more example

   Sound films have to be loaded so that the sound is 5 seconds before the sound drum so a wow does not result when the film is punched up on the air.

   1970, Larry G. Goodwin, Thomas Koehring, Closed-circuit Television Production Techniques, page 80

1. abbreviationinitialismvideo gamesInitialism of World of Warcraft.

   Synonyms: Warcraft

2. USabbreviationderogatoryinitialismgovernmentInitialism of War on Women.
3. abbreviationinitialismcomputingInitialism of Windows on Windows.

1. abbreviationuncountableaeronauticsAbbreviation of weight on wheels

1. Alternative letter-case form of WoW (“World of Warcraft”).

   Though WOW has yet to flinch from the upcoming third-generation MMOs, Crusade – which will be done when it’s done – should further swell its chest.

   2006 July, “WOW: The Burning Crusade”, in Edge, number 164, page 53

   5 more examples

   An interesting example is World of Warcraft (WOW), a fantasy, role-playing game in which players adopt characters and try to work their way from level 1 to level 80 by fighting with other players and acquiring weapons and magical artefacts.

   2008, Julie Cameron, Tony Flowers, Margaret Hart, Mark Peace, Neil Renton, Duncan Watts, Michael Wright, AQA Sociology A2, Nelson Thornes, →ISBN, page 143

   The most popular of these games has become commonly known by the acronym WOW, but is actually called World of Warcraft. […] And it isn't just youth who are playing the game, "I'd say about 50% of players on WOW are over the age of 25," claims Xander Bahl, a sophomore at ORHS.

   2008 December 9, Max Snelling, “Addicts Anonymous”, in Mouth of the River, page 19

   What with growing buzz on what is suddenly a real challenger to World of Warcraft throne as Star Wars: The Old Republic rumbles into view, I’d also be surprised if the goliath Acti-Bliz corporation don’t rattle sabres back at EA with, at the very least, the name of the MMO that Blizzard are developing alongside WOW.

   2009 February, “Meet the team”, in PC Zone, number 203, page 47

   The good news is, in dating, as in WOW, you will always resurrect from a bad encounter, with only a little bit of invisible armor damage and no reason not to try again.

   2013, Eric Smith, The Geek’s Guide to Dating, Philadelphia, Pa.: Quirk Books, →ISBN, page 0041

   In this excerpt, Weibin in turn #3 suggested another idea of using the dinosaur as a “mount”, a common item in popular online games, such as MapleStory and WOW.

   2014, Beaumie Kim, Lynde Tan, Seng Chee Tan, “‘Perhaps This Can Be For Education’: […]”, in Michael Orey, Stephanie A. Jones, Robert Maribe Branch, editors, Educational Media and Technology Yearbook, volume 38, Cham: Springer, →ISBN, part I (Trends and Issues in Learning, Design, and Technology), page 36