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PlainSpell

ho

/hoʊ/interjection, noun, verb

ho is spelled H-O: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,934th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “ho vs hoe” about 1,900 times a month (Google, United States). As an interjection, ho means “Used to attract attention to something sighted, usually by lookouts” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in ho?

Letters2: H-O
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing17 times per million words; the 4,934th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is ho?

Ho appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,934th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce ho?

  • UK /həʊ/
  • US /hoʊ/
  • US /hoʔ/

Ho has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-ho.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with ho

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

ho vs hoe1,900 G

Sounds like: hoe (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: ho ho, ho ho ho, hoe, hoh.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with ho?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as ho from its last stressed vowel (/oʊ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of ho

  • hos plural
  • hoes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • hoe
  • 'ho
  • hoeing participle, present
  • hoed participle, past
  • 'hos plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does ho mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

interjection

  1. 1

    Used to attract attention to something sighted, usually by lookouts.

    Sail ho!

  2. 2

    halloo; hey; a call to excite attention, or to give notice of approach.

  3. 3

    rareSaid accompanying a vigorous attack.

    Mona: Hee! Ha! Ho! Ha! The brain buffet is closed, buddy! Take that! And this!

noun

  1. 1

    A stop; a halt; a moderation of pace.

  2. 2

    USderogatoryslangvulgarA whore; a sexually promiscuous woman; in general use as a highly offensive term of abuse for a woman with connotations of loose sexuality.

    Bros before hoes!

  3. 3

    USoffensiveslangvulgarA woman in general; a bitch.

  4. 4

    USobsoleteslangvulgarCare, anxiety, trouble, sorrow.

verb

  1. 1

    USslangvulgarTo act as a ho, to prostitute.

  2. 2

    USobsoleteslangvulgarTo care, be anxious, to long.

noun

as Ho
  1. 1

    A Central-Eastern Indian Adivasi tribe numbering around 1 million, mainly following the religion of Sarna Dhorom

noun

as HO
  1. 1

    Initialism of head office.

  2. 2

    Initialism of holy orders.

  3. 3

    Abbreviation of HO scale.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Ho in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Spanishey (hey), puta, prostituta (whore)
Frenchpute (whore)
GermanHure (whore)
Portugueseputa, prostituta, vadia (whore), gaja (woman)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does ho come from?

From Middle English ho, hoo (interjection), from Old English hō, probably from Old Norse hó! (interjection, also, a shepherd's call). Compare Dutch ho, German ho, Old French ho! (“hold!, halt!”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after ho