Meaning of boo hag | Babel Free

Definitions

A malevolent supernatural being thought to sit on sleeping victims to drain their life force.

Examples

“HAMILTON’S HILL, 0.4 m., a little elevation, was the starting point for the races, and is known for a wide variety of ghosts including such fearsome creatures as a 10-foot cat that explodes before the beholder’s eyes, plat-eyes in the guise of three-legged hogs and two-headed cows, boo-daddies, boo-hags, and drolls.”

“Witches are sometimes called boo-hags instead of just hags. One authority on witchcraft says that the boo-hag is more powerful than the ordinary hag, but all sea island Negroes do not concur in this opinion. Hags are hags, they say, no matter what fancy name you may give them.”

“To the typical Negro of the Carolina coast, the night was made fearsome by hordes of spirit beings—the plat-eye, the boo-daddy and boo-hag, the drolls. […] Boo-daddies and boo-hags, were disembodied spirits, released for dread purposes, while drolls were the ghosts of children who had died under mysterious circumstances.”

“And once she had hold of her spirit, boo hag could slip off her skin and fly all over the place, too. Ride you in just the shape of her while her skin hang there behind the door! 'Tis true!”

“Be sure to mind Mama, now. 'Cause if you let somebody in, you never know. It just might be Pruella the Boo Hag.”

CEFR level