baa
Plural: baas
Noun
- the cry made by sheep
- The characteristic cry or bleating of a sheep.
- The letter ب in the Arabic script.
Verb
Verb Forms: baaed, baaing, baas
- To make the bleating cry of a sheep.
- cry plaintively
- To make the characteristic cry of a sheep.
Intj
- The characteristic cry of a sheep.
Examples
- My opponent could only baa in protest after I played that triple-triple.
Origin / Etymology
Compare German bäh, mäh; an imitative word.
Notes on phonological development
The pronunciation /bɑː/ is perhaps a development from earlier /bæː/ reflecting the shift of /æː/ to /ɑː/ during the 18th and 19th centuries. Compare Early Modern English bae, bea, both "to baa", respectively displaying the then current pronunciation of Middle English /aː/ as /æː/ and the failure of Middle English /ɛː/ to raise, and the replacement of mew with meow for another instance where recent sound change has made onomatopoeia opaque.
Scrabble Score: 5
baa: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordbaa: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
baa: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary