cahoots
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From earlier cahoot + -s (suffix forming regular plurals of nouns). Cahoot is probably borrowed:[1]
- from French cahute (“hut, shack”), from Dutch kajuit (“cabin on a ship”), from Middle Low German kajüte, probably from Middle Dutch kayhute; further etymology uncertain, possibly borrowed from Old French *cahute, chahute (whence Middle French quahute), a blend of cabane (“cabin, hut, shack”) + hute (“hut”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to conceal, hide; to cover; hide, skin”)); or
- from French cohorte (“group of people supporting the same person or thing, cohort”), from Latin cohors (“cohort; crowd”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“beside, by; near; with”) + *ǵʰer- (“to enclose”) (and if so, a doublet of cohort).
Noun
cahoots pl (normally plural, singular cahoot) (originally US)
- Chiefly preceded by in: collaboration or collusion, chiefly for a nefarious reason. [from early 19th c.] Synonym: (uncommon) cahoot
Those two are definitely in cahoots.
- (uncommon) plural of cahoot (“a company or partnership; a group of people working together, chiefly for a nefarious reason, hence, a collaboration or collusion; an accomplice, partner”)
Alternative forms
Derived terms
Verb
cahoots
- third-person singular simple present indicative of cahoot
References
- “cahoot, *n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2023; “cahoots, *plural n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading
Cahoots (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.
Anagrams
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