Ooch
intj, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A small amount by which something has changed or moved. informal
""The credit card is inflationary (merchants must be expected to ooch prices a bit to compensate for their kickbacks to the banks)." My question: How much is an "ooch"? Also, as I am one of the benighted ones who cut up and junked the card, shouldn't I be entitled to an "ooch" discount on a cash basis or on a first-of-the-month basis?"
- 2 Something that causes discomfort or pain; an ouch. informal
"I had my toe redressed wiv bandage, gauze and plasters. I could tell you how Dr (Simon) Costain plucked the bits of old gauze out of my toe wiv tweezers. Dat's an ooch."
- 3 Alternative spelling of ouche (“a brooch or clasp for fastening a piece of clothing together, especially when set with jewels or valuable”). alt-of, alternative, informal
"A Grecian bandeau of white satin riband, tied round the head, with two long ends fluttering in the air—a profusion of false curls—a prodigality of glitter in the shape of tinsel, false diamonds, fingers full of rings, with “brooches, pearls, and ooches” innumerable—and the general befitting appurtenance of the geese wings—characterized the appearance of these ladies of the corps de ballet."
- 4 A small change or small amount of progress. figuratively, informal
"To prevent those mistakes from becoming corporate failures, we have created what we call the "ooch approach.""
- 5 An act of propelling a boat or sailboard forward by rocking one's body. informal
"Presumably, this means that one may ooch only to initiate surfing or planing and that, if challenged, one must be prepared to defend one's ooching behavior in light of the conditions and the wave pattern. Potential problems: How many ooches are permitted per wave?"
- 1 To move or slide (oneself or someone, or something) by a small amount. also, informal, reflexive, transitive
"I ooched my car forward. In Dallas, tailgaiting is an art. You have to protect your place in traffic, or some yahoo will sneak in before you. So you have to drive two inches away from the bumper in front of you."
- 2 To cry out in discomfort or pain; to ouch. informal, intransitive
"Maybe he was trying to make up for all those crawdads, laughing at her ooching and owwing in that sticker patch."
- 3 To cause (oneself or someone, or something) to change or progress by a small amount or in small increments. also, figuratively, informal, reflexive, transitive
"An oocher, according to the The Encyclopedia Erratica, is a motorist who persists in ooching his speed to 35-miles-an-hour in a 30-mile zone. He also is the guy who insists on ooching another drink after the bars close."
- 4 To force (someone or something) to move without noticeable disruption or opposition; to nudge. figuratively, informal, transitive
"There is one man I haven't mentioned, who quietly, without any ostentation at all, circulated among all the thousands of boys and girls, who had been "ooched" out of Johnsville when the guards were arrested, a fellow by the name of Rifkin."
- 5 To move or slide by a small amount; to scooch, to scoot. informal, intransitive
"She didn't really pull away, just ooched over a little, leaving two or three inches between us—and I liked her better for it."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 To move around in a restricted or small space; to squeeze, to squirm. informal, intransitive
"I still got sand stuck between my toes. I can feel it ooching around down there."
- 7 To change or progress by a small amount or in small increments; to nudge. figuratively, informal, intransitive
"I mean, come on, unemployment is down for 3 straight months, and that's a good thing. In fact, unemployment claims, even they ooched up a tiny bit now, are for the last 3 or 4 months at all-time lows, which is encouraging in terms of what it says about the fundamentals of this economy."
- 8 To force to move without noticeable disruption or opposition. figuratively, informal, intransitive
"From what General Slate said, Prettyboy will just get ooched out of Fort Murray and shipped to some nice restful post in Alaska."
- 9 To propel a boat or sailboard by rocking one's body back and forth. informal, intransitive
"But if you are racing a boat without a chute, especially a single-hander, ooching is usually more effective."
- 1 A cry of discomfort or pain: ouch. informal
"My mother must have whipped me for almost half an hour, even though it seemed like eternity. […] "Ooch, mama; ooch, mama; ooch, mama; I promise not to do this anymore!" / "I know you won't, believe me; you won't!" / "Ooch, mama; ooch, mama; ooch, mama; you are killing me!""
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"I ooched my car forward. In Dallas, tailgaiting is an art. You have to protect your place in traffic, or some yahoo will sneak in before you. So you have to drive two inches away from the bumper in front of you."
Etymology
The verb is possibly a variant of scooch or scoot, or an onomatopoeia representing the movement. The noun is possibly derived from the verb.
The interjection and noun are probably variants of ouch. The verb is probably derived from the interjection, or also from ouch (verb).
See ouche.
More for "ooch"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.