shoo fly

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountable

   A sweet open pie with a sticky molasses filling and a crumb topping, traditional in Pennsylvania Dutch cooking.

   Grammar: Often written shoo-fly pie; you can say a shoo-fly pie or a slice of shoo-fly pie.

   Patterns

   • a shoo-fly pie
   • a slice of shoo-fly pie
   • bake a shoo-fly pie

   Grandma baked a shoo-fly pie for the church sale.

   The bakery sells shoo-fly pie by the slice on Saturdays.

   He had never tasted shoo-fly pie until he moved to Pennsylvania.

2. 2phrasefixed phraseinformal

   A command said to make a fly go away, or a name for something meant to keep flies off.

   Grammar: Used on its own as a short command; also appears before a noun, as in a shoo-fly screen.

   Patterns

   • shoo fly!
   • a shoo-fly screen
   • a shoo-fly net

   Shoo fly, you're landing on the cake again.

   The horses wore shoo-fly nets over their faces in summer.

   She waved her hand and said, "Shoo fly!" at the buzzing insect.

Word forms

Common combinations

shoo-fly pie

The diner is famous for its shoo-fly pie.

a slice of shoo-fly pie

He ordered a slice of shoo-fly pie with his coffee.

bake a shoo-fly pie

They bake a shoo-fly pie every Thanksgiving.

shoo-fly net

The farmer fitted a shoo-fly net over the horse's head.

Synonyms and how they differ

molasses pie

A broader name for any pie made with molasses; shoo-fly pie is the specific Pennsylvania Dutch version with a crumb topping.

treacle tart

A British dessert with a similar sticky syrup filling, but it uses golden syrup and has no crumb layer.

Word family

shoo verb

to wave or call something away, as in shoo the cat off the table

Commonly confused: shoo fly or shoo-in?

Practice

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