Standard Lemma guide

yo-ho-ho

intj · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈjəʊhəʊhəʊ/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /jəʊhəʊˈhəʊ/
  • Received-Pronunciation: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈjoʊhoʊhoʊ/
  • General-American: /ˌjoʊˌhoʊˈhoʊ/
  • rhymes with -əʊ

1

intj

Meaning 1

A cry associated with pirates and seafaring, originally a repetitive chant intended to synchronize workers performing some collective physical labour, such as hauling on a rope.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

The term was popularized by a (fictional) pirate shanty in the novel Treasure Island (1883) by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) – see the quotation – but appears in earlier songs of sailors. The term is possibly a variant of yo-he-ho, apparently a short form of yo-heave-ho (“a repetitive call made to synchronize workers performing some collective physical labour, such as hauling on a rope”).

Across languages

Translations

2 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 喲呵呵 /哟呵呵 (yō hē hē) — cry associated with pirates and seafaring
  • Norwegian: hiv o’hoi — cry associated with pirates and seafaring