Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Hoodoo
Hoo′doo
(hoō′doō)
, Noun.
[Perh. a var. of
voodoo
.] 1.
One who causes bad luck.
[Colloq.]
Definition 2024
hoodoo
hoodoo
English
Noun
hoodoo (plural hoodoos)
- African traditional folk magic.
- (geology) A tall thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of arid basins and badlands.
- Something or someone believed to bring bad luck.
Synonyms
- (spire of rock): tent rock, fairy chimney, earth pyramid
Translations
spire of rock
|
Verb
hoodoo (third-person singular simple present hoodoos, present participle hoodooing, simple past and past participle hoodooed)
- (transitive) To jinx; to bring bad luck or misfortune to.
References
- “hoodoo”, Bill Casselman
Etymology
Possibly an alteration of voodoo or from Hausa, hu'du'ba / hu3'du3'ba1 (“to arouse resentment”). In English, meaning altered to “bring bad luck”, then applied to things thought to bring bad luck, including the thin spires of rock now called hoodoos.
Some hoodoos (spires of rock).
A hoodoo, showing why it is also called a tent rock.