# bow-wow

Pronunciation: say "bow-WOW" /ˌbaʊˈwaʊ/

## Interjection

1. An imitation of the barking sound made by a dog.
   - Simple: A word used to copy the barking sound a dog makes.
   - _Bow-wow, bow-wow! went the dog at every passing stranger._
   - _She read the story aloud, adding a cheerful 'bow-wow' on each page._

## Noun

2. A humorous or childish name for a dog.
   - Simple: A playful, childish name for a dog.
   - _She scooped up the yapping bow-wow and tucked it under her arm._
   - _A pair of muddy bow-wows bounded across the yard to greet us._
3. The barking sound produced by a dog.
   - Simple: The barking noise that a dog makes.
   - _A sharp bow-wow echoed down the empty street at midnight._
   - _She recognized the familiar bow-wow of the neighbor's terrier through the wall._

## Verb

4. To make the sound of a dog; to bark.
   - Simple: To make the barking sound that a dog makes.
   - _The hounds bow-wow loudly the moment a stranger approaches the gate._
   - _He taught the parrot to bow-wow like a terrier whenever it was hungry._

## Adjective

5. Grand or imposing in an inflated, showy manner. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Sounding very grand or showy without much real value.
   - _The mayor delivered a bow-wow address full of grand promises and little substance._
   - _Critics dismissed the novel's bow-wow prose as more noise than meaning._

## Origin

An onomatopoeic word, formed to imitate the sound it describes.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bow-wow (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).