po'boy
/ˈpoʊ.bɔɪ/noun
po'boy is spelled P-O-B-O-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 65 million words in written English, the 252,559th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, po'boy means “Alternative form of po' boy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of po'boy is po'boys or po' boys.
How many letters and syllables are in po'boy?
| Letters | 5: P-O-B-O-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 65 million words; the 252,559th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is po'boy?
Po'boy appears about once in every 65 million words in written English, the 252,559th 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 po'boy?
- US /ˈpoʊ.bɔɪ/
Po'boy has 2 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-poboy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of po'boy
- po'boys plural
- po' boys plural
- po-boy
- poboy
- po boy
- poor boy
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does po'boy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Alternative form of po' boy.
noun
- 1
USA sandwich made on a French bread roll cut lengthwise and usually containing a meaty filling (for example: roast beef, ham, or fried shrimp), and often dressed with ingredients like shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, sliced pickles, and mayonnaise.
Near-synonym: submarine sandwich
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does po'boy come from?
Generally agreed to have originated in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the early 1920s. The explanation for exactly how the term arose is disputed, as discussed on Wikipedia at po' boy § Etymology.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).