Loud calls or cries made by owls, or informal expressions of derision or laughter from a crowd.
From Middle English 'hooten,' possibly from Old Norse 'húta.' The onomatopoeia mimics the actual sound owls make, and the sound has been spelled this way since the 1300s.
Owls can make wildly different hoots—barn owls screech like a horror movie, while great horned owls sound like they're saying 'who cooks for you,' and birdwatchers literally use these phrases to identify species by sound alone.
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