oh

1 of 3

interjection

(ˈ)ō 

variants or less commonly O

1

—used to express an emotion (such as surprise or desire) or in response to physical stimuli

Oh, no! I forgot my key.

Oh, don't stop!

2

—used in direct address

oh, waiter! Will you come here, please?

3

—used to express acknowledgment or understanding of a statement

Oh, yes. It's one of my favorite cities.

4

—used to introduce an example or approximation

Their house is about, oh, I'd say four miles from here.

oh

2 of 3

noun

ˈō 

: zero

OH

3 of 3

abbreviation

Ohio

Synonyms

Noun

• aught
• cipher
• goose egg
• naught
• nought
• nil
• nothing
• o
• zero
• zilch
• zip

Examples of oh in a Sentence

Noun

the number is one-oh-two-four

Recent Examples on the Web

Interjection

And, oh by the way, Mahomes attended the Miami Grand Prix race. —Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 8 May 2025

Which is good for business and, oh by the way, probably unnecessary. —Will Graves, Chicago Tribune, 6 May 2025

Uh oh, has the firefighter moved on and found love with someone new? —Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 13 Apr. 2025

And oh, the power play Imagine a recent season in which the Rangers, in a tie game, get three power plays over the final 9:14 of regulation, including a 24-second five-on-three. —Arthur Staple, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Interjection

Middle English o

Noun

o; from the similarity of the symbol for zero (0) to the letter O

First Known Use

Interjection

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1936, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing oh

• hit the big five-oh
• hit the big four-oh
• oh yeah
• uh-oh

Rhymes for oh

• beau
• beaux
• blow
• boe
• bro
• coe
• crow
• doe
• doh
• dough
• eau
• eaux

Kids Definition

oh

1 of 2 interjection

variants or O

(ˈ)ō

1

—used to express an emotion (as astonishment or desire) or in response to a physical sensation (as pain)

2

—used in direct address

Oh sir, you forgot your change

3

—used to express understanding of a statement

oh, that's what you mean

4

—used to introduce an example or a guess

there are probably, oh, six or seven different ways to do that

oh

2 of 2 noun

ˈō 

: zero entry 1 sense 1