int. (sb., v.). Also 8 whuph. Imitation of a gruff abrupt cry or noise; as vb. to utter such a cry. So Whoogh (also as exclamation of exultation, etc.).
a. 1766. Mrs. F. Sheridan, Sidney Bidulph, IV. 75. Whuph! it is past two o’clock in the morning.
1785. Pennant, Arctic Zool., II. 543. Its [sc. a swan’s] sound is, whoogh, whoogh, very loud and shrill, but not disagreeable.
1815. G. Beattie, John o’ Arnha’ (1826), 58. At ilka thud and sough, They cried ‘weel done!—hey!! hilloa!!! whoogh!!!’
1863. Speke, Discov. Nile, 60. I planted a ball in the larger one [sc. rhinoceros], and brought him round with a roar and whooh-whooh. Ibid., 229. A large female [rhinoceros] … came straight down whoof-whoofing upon me.
1921. A. S. M. Hutchinson, If Winter Comes, III. ii. 3. 205. ‘Whoof!’ He blew a cyclonic blast down the speaking tube.
