variants or less commonly O
Synonyms of ohnext
1
—used to express an emotion (such as surprise or desire) or in response to physical stimuli
Oh, no! I forgot my key.
Oh, don't stop!
2
—used in direct address
Oh, waiter! Will you come here, please?
3
—used to express acknowledgment or understanding of a statement
Oh, yes. It's one of my favorite cities.
4
—used to introduce an example or approximation
Their house is about, oh, I'd say four miles from here.
: zero

OH

3 of 3

abbreviation

Ohio

Examples of oh in a Sentence

Noun the number is one-oh-two-four
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Interjection
The Hurricanes scored only moments later — oh, there was no penalty called on the blows to the head — and went on Sunday night to beat the Flyers 4-1. — ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026 Inside a Cantonese restaurant with a view of the foggy San Francisco night, a place picked by my oh-so sophisticated local cousin Noreen, plates piled with orange chicken and honey walnut shrimp paraded past me on the lazy Susan in the center. — Daniel Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026 And her colleague said, ‘oh my gosh, that reminds me of my favorite book. — Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 28 Sep. 2026 Often, that means doing things like, oh, zipping down city streets, because there are no curb cuts to assist her in smoothly moving from sidewalk to sidewalk. — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 10 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for oh

Word History

Etymology

Interjection

Middle English o

Noun

o; from the similarity of the symbol for zero (0) to the letter O

First Known Use

Interjection

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1908, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of oh was in the 13th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Oh.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oh. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

Kids Definition

oh

1 of 2 interjection
variants or O
(ˈ)ō
1
—used to express an emotion (as astonishment or desire) or in response to a physical sensation (as pain)
2
—used in direct address
Oh sir, you forgot your change
3
—used to express understanding of a statement
oh, that's what you mean
4
—used to introduce an example or a guess
there are probably, oh, six or seven different ways to do that
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