Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

1. vt., To pinch or nip off, as a bud.

• Examples:
  • ʻAko poʻo ʻōʻū, to cut off all the hair at the back of the head and leave hair only in front.
  • E ʻōʻū i ka maka o ka wauke ʻoi ʻōpiopio, pinch off the bud of the wauke plant while it is young [nip it in the bud; teach while young].

2. vi., To perch, as on a tree.

• Figuratively, lazy.
• Examples:
  • ʻŌʻū ō loa nā manu o Kaupeʻa (chant), the birds of Kaupeʻa [sing] long as they perch.
• Related:
  • hōʻōʻū Caus/sim.; To cause to perch.

3. n., A finch-like Hawaiian honey creeper (Psittirostra psittacea 🌐), with an almost parrot-like bill, endemic to the main Hawaiian Islands, but becoming very rare. Its green feathers were used for making cloaks and leis.

• Examples:
  • ʻAuhea wale ʻoe, ē ka manu ʻōʻū ʻoe o ka nahele (song), listen, O bird, you honey creeper of the forest.
• References:
  • See ex., kuaola.
  • Cf. ʻōʻū lae oʻo, ʻōʻū poʻo lapalapa.

4. vi., To hump up, as an octopus out of its burrow.

hamani, To abort, as in a computer program.

• Source:
  • Existing dictionary word, Extended meaning
• Examples:
  • Ua ʻōʻū ʻia ka hoʻoneʻe waihona ʻana. The file transfer was aborted.

Hawaiian honeycreeper (Psittirostra psittacea) that resembles the finch. Hawaiian names are ʻōʻō poʻolapalapa for the male, and ʻōʻū laueʻo for the female, the yellow headed and leaf-green ʻōʻū. It is native to the main group of islands but close to extinc-