zoo

1 of 2

noun

plural zoos
1
: a facility with usually indoor and outdoor settings where living, typically wild animals are kept especially for public exhibition

called also zoological garden, zoological park

2
: a place, situation, or group marked by crowding, confusion, or unrestrained behavior
The convention was a zoo.

zoo-

2 of 2

combining form

variants or before a vowel zo-
1
: animal : animal kingdom or kind
zooid
zoology
2
: motile
zoospore

Examples of zoo in a Sentence

Noun The sixth grade classroom was a zoo after recess. The supermarket was a real zoo on the night before the storm.
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.
Noun
Hang with some cute animals at the petting zoo: Near the Yellow Gate, find a petting zoo with goats, sheep, pigs and more. Marla Jo Fisher, Oc Register, 19 July 2025 Four years later, also in Harper’s Weekly, Nast drew a donkey clothed in lion’s skin, scaring away all the animals at the zoo. Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 July 2025 Here are free admission days at Milwaukee's museums and zoo. Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 18 July 2025 And hundreds, if not thousands, of jack-o-lanterns in all sizes and colors, a zoo of skeleton animals (even octopus), cutesy yard signs, gigantic inflatables and enough grave stones to fill a cemetery. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for zoo

Word History

Etymology

Noun

short for zoological garden

Combining form

borrowed from Greek zōo-, zōio-, combining form from zôion "animal," derivative from the base of zṓō, zṓein (Homeric), zô, zên (Attic) "to be alive, live," going back to Indo-European *gwi̯éh3-(u)- "live" (whence also Tocharian B śāyau "[I] live"), full grade of a stem attested elsewhere with zero grade as *gwih3-u-, whence Latin vīvō, vīvere "to live," Old Church Slavic živǫ, žiti, Old Prussian giwa "(s/he) lives," Latvian dzīvu "(I) live," Sanskrit jīvati "(s/he) lives," Avestan juuaiti

Note: See also bio-, quick entry 1.

First Known Use

Noun

1835, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of zoo was in 1835

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Cite this Entry

“Zoo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zoo. Accessed 23 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

zoo

noun
plural zoos
: a garden or park where living usually wild animals are kept for showing to the public

More from Merriam-Webster on zoo

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