Meaning & use
cahoot
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Meaning
nounusually pluraldisapprovinginformal
Secret partnership or scheming, used almost only in the phrase in cahoots with.
Grammar: Say in cahoots with someone; singular cahoot is rare outside explanations of the phrase.
Patterns
- in cahoots with someone
- be in cahoots
- work in cahoots
The auditor suspected two suppliers were in cahoots.
Neighbors claimed the landlord was in cahoots with the developers.
The article said the fake reviewers were in cahoots with the seller.
Word forms
| plural | cahoots |
|---|
Common combinations
- in cahoots with
- The memo suggested the agent was in cahoots with a rival bidder.
- be in cahoots
- If the two firms are in cahoots, prices will not fall.
- work in cahoots
- They worked in cahoots to hide the missing funds.
Synonyms and how they differ
- collusion
- Formal and often legal or corporate; cahoots is informal and usually negative.
- conspiracy
- Suggests a planned secret plot, often more serious than everyday cahoots.
- alliance
- Can be neutral or positive; cahoots implies the cooperation is secretive or improper.
Commonly confused: cahoot or cohort? cahoot or hoot?
cahoot vs cohort
A cohort is a group sharing a characteristic, or in some usage a companion; cahoot appears in the fixed phrase in cahoots.
cahoot vs hoot
A hoot is a sound or something funny; cahoot is the rare singular behind in cahoots.
Practice
Choose the correct preposition: The inspector believed the clerk was ___ cahoots ___ the contractor.
Choose one answer.
The fixed phrase is in cahoots with. Other prepositions may look possible after believe or clerk but do not form the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cahoot”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.