coo

Meanings

1. 1verbintransitive

   To make the soft, low, repeating sound that doves and pigeons make.

   Grammar: No object; often used with 'softly' or 'gently': The pigeon cooed softly on the roof.

   Patterns

   • coo softly
   • coo gently
   • coo at someone

   The pigeons cooed on the windowsill all morning.

   A dove cooed somewhere in the garden, a peaceful sound.

   The baby laughed when the pigeon cooed near her pram.

2. 2verbintransitive

   To speak in a soft, gentle, loving way, especially to a baby or a romantic partner.

   Grammar: Often followed by 'over' or 'to': She cooed over the new baby.

   Patterns

   • coo over someone
   • coo to someone
   • coo at someone

   The grandmother cooed over the sleeping infant.

   He cooed sweetly into her ear at the party.

   Stop cooing at me like I'm a child!

3. 3nouncountable

   The soft, murmuring sound made by a dove or pigeon.

   Grammar: Countable: the coo of a dove; the coos of pigeons.

   Patterns

   • the coo of a dove
   • a soft coo
   • the coos of pigeons

   The only sound was the coo of a dove in the tree.

   She heard a gentle coo from the nest above.

   The baby made a happy coo when she saw the toy.

Word forms

Common combinations

coo softly

The pigeon cooed softly on the roof.

coo over

The aunts cooed over the new baby.

coo at

She cooed at the puppy in the pet shop.

a soft coo

We heard a soft coo from the nest.

Synonyms and how they differ

murmur

Used for any low, continuous sound, not specifically the sound of doves.

warble

Used for a bird's musical trill, often more melodic than a coo.

Word family

cooing noun

The act or sound of making a soft murmuring noise.

Commonly confused: coo or coup? coo or cool?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “coo”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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