hypo

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
12
Words With Friends
11
Letters
4
Pronunciation
/ˈhaɪ.pəʊ/(UK)
See all 2 pronunciations
/ˈhaɪ.pəʊ/(UK) · /ˈhaɪ.poʊ/(US)

Definition of hypo

12 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. (countable, obsolete, uncountable)Melancholy; a fit of hypochondria; a morbid depression.
    “1711 "I have a better Stomach tha usuall and have perfectly forgot what the Hyppo means",Joseph Collett, merchant, writing from Rio de Janeiro, Oct 15, 1711, in his Private Letter Books, edited by H. H. Dodwell in 1933. (cited by Eric Partidge, A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventinoal English”
    “1837 Abraham Lincoln: Tell your sister I dont want to hear any more about selling out and moving. That gives me the hypo whenever I think of it. (Letter to Mary S. Owens, May 7. 1837, Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 1.”
    “whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off--then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. (Chapter 1, "Loomings") But thou sayest, methinks that white-lead chapter about whiteness is but a white flag hung out from a craven soul; thou surrenderest to a hypo, Ishmael. (Chapter 42, "The Whiteness of the Whale")”
See all 12 definitions

noun

  1. (countable, obsolete, uncountable)Melancholy; a fit of hypochondria; a morbid depression.
    “1711 "I have a better Stomach tha usuall and have perfectly forgot what the Hyppo means",Joseph Collett, merchant, writing from Rio de Janeiro, Oct 15, 1711, in his Private Letter Books, edited by H. H. Dodwell in 1933. (cited by Eric Partidge, A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventinoal English”
    “1837 Abraham Lincoln: Tell your sister I dont want to hear any more about selling out and moving. That gives me the hypo whenever I think of it. (Letter to Mary S. Owens, May 7. 1837, Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 1.”
    “whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off--then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. (Chapter 1, "Loomings") But thou sayest, methinks that white-lead chapter about whiteness is but a white flag hung out from a craven soul; thou surrenderest to a hypo, Ishmael. (Chapter 42, "The Whiteness of the Whale")”
  2. (countable, slang, uncountable)A hypochondriac.
    “Certainly no one can accuse a bunch of hypos of lying dormant during the noon-hour. The activity, inside and out, is simply terrific. To us, personally, by far the most interesting group of hypochondriacs in attendance at this particular emporium […]”
  3. (countable, informal, uncountable)Sodium thiosulfate (also called hyposulfite of soda), a photographic fixing agent.
  4. (countable, slang, uncountable)A hypoglycaemia attack in a person with diabetes.
  5. (countable, slang, uncountable)A hypodermic syringe or injection.
  6. (British, countable, slang, uncountable)Hypothecation.
  7. (countable, informal, uncountable)A hypothetical case.
  8. (countable, informal, uncountable)A hypomelanistic snake.

verb

  1. (intransitive, slang)To have a hypoglycaemia attack.
    “My top lip tingles, and I'm clearly hypoing but I don't know what my sugar level is, it was 9.8 when I went to bed, which is fine. I've hypoed a lot lately.”
  2. (transitive)To administer a hypodermic injection to.
    “Bacterium and virus count—as usual. Lots of it. Apparently not too dangerous. Not with every single soul hypoed and immunized and hormoned to his eyebrows.”
  3. (figuratively, transitive)To stimulate or boost, as if by administering a hypodermic injection. (Compare hype.)
    “Stations across the country hypoed the Beatle excitement with offers of fan club cards, free records. Beatle contests of all sorts, and a continual push on the Capitol, Swan, Vee Jay and MGM releases by the group.”
  4. (transitive)To stimulate or boost (the economy) by the injection of cash, such as with quantitative easing
    “In the last three peacetime years before the Vietnam War expenditures began to hypo the economy, 1961, 1962, and 1963, unemployment in those years averaged six percent.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

Clipping of various terms beginning with hypo-, from Ancient Greek ὑπό (hupó, “under”).

Words you can make from hypo

11 playable · top: HYP (11 pts)

Best play hyp 11 points

3-letter words

4 words

2-letter words

6 words

Hooks

1 extension · 1 back

A single letter you can add to hypo to make another valid word.

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