Dictionary

hooley en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈhuːli/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio
• (Australia) audio
• /ˈhuli/ (General-American)

Etymology

The etymology of sense 1 (“noisy celebration or party”) is unknown. Sense 2 (“strong wind”) is possibly from one of the following: * Borrowed from Orkney Scots hool(an) (“strong wind”) + English -ie (diminutive suffix). Hoolan is derived from Norn (unattested), from Old Norse ýlun (“howling, wailing”), from ýla (“to howl”) (ultimately onomatopoeic) + -un (suffix forming nouns). * From sense 1.

Meanings

1. (Ireland) A noisy celebration or party; also, an evening of traditional music and dance.
   • At a family gathering, a wake or a Christmas hooley, other children would step forward to sing a rhyme or dance a hornpipe. 2002, Joseph O’Connor, Star of the Sea, Vintage, published 2003, page 88:
   • The celebratory ceilidh at the Culag Hotel in Lochinver is still talked about. 'Oh, it was a fine evening,' one discreet woman said to me. 'A right damn wild hoolie!' a well-oiled friend enthused. 2010, Andrew Greig, At the Loch of the Green Corrie, London: Quercus Editions, published 2011, →ISBN, page 189:
   • Indeed, our Recording Date was only yesterday and, thanks to a myriad of ongoing so-called technical 'snafus' (more media lingo – you'll get used to it!), we didn't leave the studio (get me, eh?!) until one in the morning, after which our presenters, Jiz and Liz, were in a right fouler, so we all piled back to Jane's gaff for champagne on tap and a wild sort of hoolie that had cocaine and everything, […] 2015, Kevin Maher, Last Night on Earth, London: Little, Brown, →ISBN, book 2, page 125:
   • She had always loved what she called a hooley, a gathering of family and friends, and her dying was to be her last, greatest hooley. 2023, Richard Flanagan, Question 7, Knopf, page 183:
2. (Scotland) Chiefly in the form to blow a hooley: a strong wind; a gale.
   • I am arriving at the view that we have probably all been battered and bruised by being flung about the cabin as the boat heels over on its ear. We have all felt queasy (at best) when the wind and tide are battling it out in a hoolie and got cold, wet and miserable. 2012, Andy Lear, “The Social Aspect of Yachting”, in The Joys of Yachting, Morrisville, N.C.: Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 17:
   • The weather was fine when we first went in but unfortunately it started blowing a ‘hoolie’ in the evening. 2014, Mike Smith, “Warmer Climes—Wives—Guns—Brunhilde”, in Ships ’n Boats ’n Tales Afloat, Bridlington, Yorkshire: Lodge Books, →ISBN, page 66:
   • It’s blowing a hooley out there.
   • Bertie held mum's hand tightly as the wind was by now blowing a hoolie and Bertie did not feel very safe as he felt that he was close to being blown off his paws on more than one occasion. 2012, Rosalind James, Bertie Rides Again, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 33:
   • The wind blew so hard during the service itself that it seemed as though the whole of Oban bay was trying to get into the cathedral. Either that or it was the Holy Spirit blowing up a hooley in celebration. 2004 May 28, Kelvin Holdsworth, “The Rt Rev Kevin Pearson”, in Thurible.net:

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