zoo

1 of 2

noun

ˈzü 

plural zoos

1

: a facility with usually indoor and outdoor settings where living, typically wild animals are kept especially for public exhibition

called also zoological garden, zoological park

2

: a place, situation, or group marked by crowding, confusion, or unrestrained behavior

The convention was a zoo.

zoo-

2 of 2

combining form

variants or before a vowel zo-

1

: animal : animal kingdom or kind

zooid

zoology

2

: motile

zoospore

Synonyms

Noun

• ado
• alarums and excursions
• ballyhoo
• blather
• bluster
• bobbery
• bother
• bustle
• clatter
• clutter [chiefly dialect]
• coil
• commotion
• corroboree [Australian]
• disturbance
• do [chiefly dialect]
• foofaraw
• fun
• furor
• furore
• fuss
• helter-skelter
• hoo-ha
• hoo-hah
• hoopla
• hubble-bubble
• hubbub
• hullabaloo
• hurly
• hurly-burly
• hurricane
• hurry
• hurry-scurry
• hurry-skurry
• kerfuffle [chiefly British]
• moil
• pandemonium
• pother
• row
• ruckus
• ruction
• rumpus
• shindy
• splore [Scottish]
• squall
• stew
• stir
• storm
• to-do
• tumult
• turmoil
• uproar
• welter
• whirl
• williwaw

Examples of zoo in a Sentence

Noun

The sixth grade classroom was a zoo after recess.

The supermarket was a real zoo on the night before the storm.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

West Nile Virus was first isolated from tissue samples from American crows in neighboring Westchester County, N.Y., and a Chilean flamingo in a nearby zoo. —Ars Technica, 20 Jan. 2025

Over the next week, the little newcomer quickly gained viral status after the zoo launched an online poll to select her name. —Luke Chinman, People.com, 13 Jan. 2025

Driving the news: The first-of-its-kind Key to the Zoo tours are guided by animal experts in January, when the zoo is closed to the general public. —Mike D'onofrio, Axios, 9 Jan. 2025

Backup then arrived Monday morning, when other animal care employees made the journey to the zoo. —Natalie Wallington, Kansas City Star, 8 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

short for zoological garden

Combining form

borrowed from Greek zōo-, zōio-, combining form from zôion "animal," derivative from the base of zṓō, zṓein (Homeric), zô, zên (Attic) "to be alive, live," going back to Indo-European *g^wi̯éh₃-(u)- "live" (whence also Tocharian B śāyau "[I] live"), full grade of a stem attested elsewhere with zero grade as *g^wih₃-u-, whence Latin vīvō, vīvere "to live," Old Church Slavic živǫ, žiti, Old Prussian giwa "(s/he) lives," Latvian dzīvu "(I) live," Sanskrit jīvati "(s/he) lives," Avestan juuaiti

Note: See also bio-, quick entry 1.

First Known Use

Noun

1835, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing zoo

• petting zoo

Kids Definition

zoo

noun

ˈzü 

plural zoos

: a garden or park where living usually wild animals are kept for showing to the public